Harry Potter And The Final Truth
by DanniSmelleB
Summary: Voldemort is now attcking infront of muggles, the wizarding world is now in danger of being exposed and Harry is facing one the hardest time's of his life, with more to learn about who he is and what he needs to do STORY HAS BEEN REVAMPED!
1. Coming Home

Chapter 1

Open Attack

"Bloody threatening me, who do they think they are?"

Harry's Uncle was whining as he wheeled Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage out of Kings cross station. He hadn't taken a liking to being threatened by a bunch of people he referred to constantly as 'weirdoes'.

Harry just wished he would shut up. Harry hadn't asked for his uncle to be threatened, although he was grateful to them all, as it would make his summer quite a bit easier, or at least the time he spent with his so called 'family' and his "home". Harry was walking a little behind the Dursley's, hoping the moaning would be less loud. He knew that the others were still behind him, as he could feel eyes on the back of his head as he walked through the train station. He had a feeling that they would watch him until he entered his uncles car, then a new watch would probably begin. Harry wasn't sure of the limits to the protection he had around them.

Harry stepped into the sunlight and turned to follow the Dursley's towards the car park, when he suddenly walked into the back of something rather large. He looked up to find that he had just walked straight into his cousin, Dudley.

"Whats the hold up?" Harry questioned.

Then he noticed that they were looking in the middle of the road, a little further along. Harry moved from round Dudley to find Voldemort was standing in the middle of the road. Cars had stopped either side, quite a few feet away from him. He was holding his wand and looking straight at Harry.

Voldemort started to laugh and raise his wand in Harry's and the Dursley's direction.

"Get down!" Harry heard himself scream, as he shoved into the back of Dudley, forcing him and his Aunt to the ground.

Harry hit the ground hard and heard many other do the same around him. There was a great 'Bang!' and the car in front of him blew up. The car raised a few feet off the ground, then landed with an almighty crash, as the remaining windows smashed, and the alarm went off.

"Mr Weasley! Lupin!" Harry screamed, as he crawled forwards, taking out his own wand.

His Uncle Vernon had moved his family back towards the boot of the car, and they all huddled together.

"There is no one here but us, Harry Potter, you will not evade me this time"

Voldemort raised his voice so that Harry would surely hear him. Harry could tell by how loud his voice was that he was coming closer. Without thinking, Harry ran out from behind the car, to the next parked car. The could hear people running and screaming. Many people were doing the same as he was, ducking behind cars, in hopes they wouldn't be next.

Harry heard a pop behind him and turned, pointing his wind, to find Lupin at his side.

"Harry, try to get back inside the station" He told him, taking hold of Harry's shirt as if trying to push him back.

Harry could see that Mad-Eye and Tonks had aparated next to the Dursley's.

The car Harry and Lupin were hiding behind had been hit by another curse. What Harry Couldn't understand was why Voldemort hadn't just aparated behind the car and finished him off. It would have been so much easier. Harry crawled up to the front of the car again and popped his head up over the bonnet. Voldemort was just standing there with a smile on his face.

"Reducto!" Harry shot over the car, then ducked behind it again. All heard was Voldemort laugh.

"Harry, you know this is silly. You either come out and face me like a man..."

At this, Lupin took hold of Harry's arm.

"Or I will kill what is remaining of your family" Voldemort finished.

Harry looked behind him at the Dursley's. He didn't count them as family, he didn't like any of them, but he didn't want them dead because of him. His Uncle was clutching his Aunt, as though afraid she would disappear if he let go, and Dudley was clutching his mother so tightly, Harry knew it must have hurt considering the difference in size. Harry moved forward. Why should more people die because of him? It was all he could think of, but Lupin was pulling him back.

"Harry, don't be stupid! Voldemort just wants you to be reckless, don't play into his hands"

Lupin was trying to remain calm but was failing. The panic was in his eyes.

"I am not going to let other people die because of me. I'm sick and tired of it all, he is the reason I have no one" And with that, Harry pulled out of Lupin's grasp and stood up.

He slowly took in the scene around him. Voldemort standing in the middle of the road, levitating a few inches off the ground, Muggles peering from behind hiding places, not wanting to be seen, but not daring to miss anything, cars stopped, the owners hiding somewhere else. He and Voldemort were the only two left standing in the whole road.

"My, my. You are a silly little boy to have bothered me so much. I will enjoy your death greatly, Harry potter, you have been an unworthy foe" Voldemort raised his wand, Harry's had been raised since he had stood up from behind the car.

There was a flash of light and Dumbledore was standing a few feet in front of Voldemort, then other wizards were apparating around Voldemort, closing in on him. Voldemort shouted 'Feildus' and a soft blue orb appeared round him, shielding him.

"Dumbledore, how nice to see you" Voldemort pulled the robe up on his left forearm and touched it. Harry knew he was calling his Death Eaters to him.

"Tom, a pleasure as always" Dumbledore said.

There were loud popping noises and Death Eaters were appearing all around, either facing or behind the other wizards. Harry noticed the wizards were in the same blue robes. Harry guessed they were part of the magical law enforcement agency. Harry felt someone at his side, he looked round to see Lupin had stood up.

"Get back inside the station, Dumbledore will handle Voldemort" And he gave a Harry a little shove towards the station entrance.

Harry ran over to where Tonks was still kneeling by the Dursley's. He took Dudley's arm and pulled him to his feet, then started to walk towards the station entrance. He heard movement and realised that his aunt and uncle had followed suit.

"You will not escape me, Harry Potter, or your fate to die at my hands" Voldemort shouted clearly as Harry entered the station. He heard curses being hurled and things blowing up, before the walls of the station muffled it out. He dropped Dudley on to a bench and watched as his Aunt and Uncle walked over to them.

"Harry!" He heard a familiar voice shout. Hermione and the Weasley children running over to him.

"What the bloody hell is going on? Dad and Mum just told us to stay where we are and then disaperated. Whats happened?" Ron asked, looking rather pale.

"Voldemorts just shown up outside"Harry heard himself say.

He felt numb, the realisation of what this all meant was dawning on him. The few people that were in the station were all looking at them. He grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her over near the wall. Like he knew they would, Ron Ginny, Fred and George followed suit.

"He's attacking in broad daylight, in front of god knows how many muggles!" Harry told the other exasperated.

"Oi, Harry!" Another familiar voice shouted. They all looked round to find a few Hogwarts students walked their way, all with there wands out.

"Whats going on?"

"My mum's just buggered off out side…"

"Whats this about you-know-who?"

"Who's fighting?"

Hermione held up her hands.

"All we know is that this is bad, Voldemort has attacked openly infront of a horde of Muggles"

She was answered with cries of:

"What!"

"Bloody hell"

"What are we going to do?"

"Will the ministry be able to do anything?"

Mrs Weasley aparated next to them.

"Harry! Are you alright? Where you hurt?" And she started to fuss over him and check him over.

"I'm fine, whats happening?" Harry asked, moving back a little to make her stop fussing.

She looked over the other students.

"Why don't we move towards the back of the station, were attracting too much attention"

And she was right. All of the people left in the station where now watching the children huddled together, some still wearing their  
Hogwarts uniforms, all of them with sticks in their hands.

"Mum, you've just aparated in the middle of the train station, of course were attracting attention" Fred said, slightly sarcastically, but he still had his arm around Ginny's shoulder, pulling her towards the end of the station.

Their friends had walked away and were discussing the events in their own huddled groups. It was only Harry, Hermione and the Weasley's left now.

"Mum, whats going on?" Ginny asked in a frightened voice. Fred Clutched her tighter to him and Mrs Weasley bustled over to her.

"I'm not sure, but Professor Dumbledore is out there now" She said, but she didn't sound as thought this was comforting.

"Mrs Weasley, whats the wizarding world going to do? There's too many Muggles, and they've all seen us with wands, and people disappearing and reappearing. How will they cover this up?"

Hermione sounded anxious. Harry has just noticed her parents weren't with her. Looking round he saw that they were sitting on the bench that he had put Dudley on. Mr Granger was bending down in front of Uncle Vernon, talking. Harry put his arm round Hermione, to comfort her. He was thinking the exact same thing. Had Voldemort purposely attacked like this, or didn't he care who saw what any more? It wasn't like his return was being ignored any more. Did he just want to cause as much damage as possible?

There were a few gasps, and Harry looked behind him to find Dumbledore, Mr Weasley, who had a cut forehead and arm, Lupin, who was limping, Tonks who was being held up by Mad-Eye, who himself was bleeding from his neck. Mrs Weasley practically ran to Mr Weasley and started to fuss over him. The only one unscathed, but looking furious was Dumbledore.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, directly at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore held up his hand.

"Not here Harry" And he held his hand higher to stop Harry interrupting "Somewhere a little more private"

Dumbledore walked over to Harry and put his hand on his shoulder. Using his shoulder, Dumbledore manoeuvred Harry into an empty waiting room. The rest followed.


	2. The Press

Chapter 2 Press

After they had all entered the waiting room and took up various positions, Dumbledore shut the door with a sharp snap and mutter a spell over the lock. Harry presumed that this would lock the door, possibly deter anyone from coming too close. Everyone had chosen to either sit or stand in the room, all waiting with baited breath to hear what the headmaster would have to say. Harry couldn't wait any longer.

"Professor, what happened? Where's Voldemort gone now? Did you get the Death Eaters who turned up? Was anyone hurt? Did…"

Dumbledore held up a hand so to stop Harry from carrying on.

"Harry, breathe, if you carry on talking that fast it might have long term damage on your lungs" The professor said with a weary smile, that Harry thought, was meant to be comforting. It wasn't.

Someone coughed and they all looked towards the Dursley's, who had been herded into the room with everyone else. He had almost forgotten them, he had also almost gotten them killed. How many more people would have to die before this would be over? 

"Voldemort has disappeared again" Dumbledore proclaimed sounding more tired than ever before

There was a collective intake of breath at the mention of his name. This was beginning to get on Harry's nerves, but he didn't say anything. 

"His goal, or at least what I presume was his goal, was achieved. The muggles outside heard and saw everything, many of which have now gone on there merry way. This is going to cause havoc in the magical world"

Hermione frowned

"But sir, things like this have been hidden before, what about when Pettigrew blew up the street in front of those muggles?" Hermione pointed out timidly. Harry had the feeling it wasn't going to be as easy as that. He was glad she had left … his name out of it.

Dumbledore sighed, a very deep heavy sigh.

"Well, The magical law enforcement team is outside waiting for the Minister to come. The only thing I know, is that if our world is discovered, Voldemort's rise to power will be an easy ride"

Dumbledore laid a hand over his eyes, as Harry looked at him, he could see that with the strain of everything, the wizened old wizard was showing his age. Harry had no idea of his trued age, but he could guess, knowing that Wizard's lived longer than muggles, that it was almost a century, possibly over.

Dumbledore suddenly looked at Harry, and their gazes locked. Dumbledore hadn't looked at Harry all year, except the time Harry spent, smashing up the office. Having the headmaster look at him again, gave a surge of emotions. Hate and anger were definitely in there, only in small parts, but there none the less. Mostly Harry felt admiration for the man, for he too had Dumbledore's drive to rid the world of Voldemort and Harry couldn't help but respond to that. 

"Whats going to happen, professor?" Harry asked, quietly. Dumbledore surveyed Harry through his glasses, like he had done so many times before.

"I don't know, Harry, but I do know this is going to bring a wave of panic like both the wizarding and muggle world has never seen" Dumbledore was turning and speaking to everyone, not just the 15, nearly 16 year old standing in front of him. 

"The Ministries efforts are now going to be divided between brining Voldemort down and trying to destroy all evidence that magic exists" Dumbledore finished on a tone that made it sound like he wanted to carry on, then thought better of it.

Harry sighed and looked round. Through the window, he could see that the train station was filling with people, and most of them were looking this way, pointing and talking. Not good.

"Er, Professor…" Harry said. There was a shuffle of clothes and it sounded like everyone in the room who hadn't been looking in the general direction of the windows now was.

"We need o get you out of here, Harry" Dumbledore took hold of Harry's elbow and walked him to the door. He pointed his wand at the lock and muttered something Harry didn't quite here and walked him through the train station.

Everyone went silent and parted as they passed. The police had turned up and Harry could see the magical law enforcement were trying to get everything under control, in the train station at least. Harry had a feeling that the police would try to stop them, but they took no notice and carried on talking to the wizards. A few of the wizards nodded in their general direction and Dumbledore nodded back. They reached the front of the station and it was chaos. No less than four cars had been blown up, they all had a crater mark in the middle of them where the curse had hit.

There were people being questioned by both the police and the magical law enforcement. A few of the recognised hi as he walked passed, but Harry ducked his head down. The last thing he needed was to be famous in the muggle world, too. Dumbledore didn't let go of Harry's arm until they had walked right up to the Dursley's car. Harry had no idea how the old Professor knew this was their car, but he didn't question it. For once, he had no questions, he wanted no answers, he just wanted peace.

Everybody grouped round the car and hid it partially from site. Harry didn't know if this was deliberate or not, but he was grateful. All he needed would be for a muggle news van to follow them home. Dumbledore turned to face the Dursley's who all looked rather ill. Dudley was pure white and was clinging to his mother. In another situation, this would have probably made Harry laugh, but seeing Dudley clinging to his mothers hand made him a little angry. His Aunt had dried tears on her almost yellow face. She was breathing rather heavily and leaning into her husband's arm for comfort and support. His Uncle Vernon's face was a mixture of fury and fright.

Would they take Harry back now they had had a look into what his world was like? Would they want to live in danger? Voldemort's words from two years ago came floating through Harry's mind ' He has been better protected than even he knows…Dumbledore invoked ancient magic…even I cannot touch him there' Did that mean the only place he was safe was at the Dursley's? 

"Are you willing to take Harry back for a short while over the summer?" Dumbledore asked the Dursley's. Harry thought the head master had been talking for some time, but he couldn't be sure, so he made sure he paid attention now.

Dudley made a little squeak noise and His uncle Vernon went bright red. Harry could see the thoughts flying across his so transparent face. He finally had the best excuse to get rid of Harry, no more 'weirdo's', but before he could say anything, his Aunt Petunia nodded.

"Yes" She sounded horse. Uncle Vernon looked at his wife as though she'd gone mad and Dudley pulled away from her to look at her better. She looked at her husband and her face was set. There was no arguing.

"Voldemort cannot find Harry while he is in your house, you will probably be the safest people in England" Dumbledore said lightly.

"Very well, we'll take the boy, but not for long mind you" His Uncle Vernon finished and he turned round to open the car.

Harry slid into the car next to Hedwig's cage (where she was softly hooting once in a while, to let them all know how unhappy she was with the whole situation) and his Aunt Petunia. Dudley had refused flat to sit next to him. Mr Weasley and Mad eye were loading his trunk into the car. He had said goodbye to everyone and Mrs Weasley and Hermione had burst into tears when they had said goodbye, as thought they felt this was the last time they were going to see him. He was about to shut the door when Dumbledore bent down and looked Harry straight in the eye.

"Harry, I will be in contact with you in no more than two days, and I must beg that you do not step foot off your Aunt and Uncle's property until I have. It will only be a couple of days" Harry just nodded, he didn't have anything else to say to that part. He had a feeling that may have been the case.

"What is going to happen?" Harry asked again silently, as though if he said it quietly, he would have the answer.

"I do not know, but I will do what I can, we all will" And he winked at his young charge as he stood up. Now that his Professor was standing, he could see that reporters were making their way towards the car.

The only people who were still left were Alastor Moody, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Lupin, Tonks and Dumbledore. Harry didn't think they alone could hide the car until his Uncle got the out of the car park.

"Go"

Dumbledore said and he shut Harry's car and joined the others in fending the press off. As Harry's Uncle Vernon was backing out of the parking space, Harry looked round to find Dumbledore shoot something out of his wand towards the back of the car. It took Harry several seconds to realise Dumbledore had probably put a concealment charm either on the car or the number plate.

He moved around in his seat until he found a comfortable position. His wand was tightly held in his hand on his lap. He could feel a someone staring at him, but he couldn't be bothered to turn around. He knew his Aunt would be staring at him, with either a look of hate or fright on her face. He would have been shocked to find that it actually was a look of worry…


	3. Secrets Out

Secrets Out

Harry woke the next day with a thumping head ach, and an overwhelming desire to crawl under the bed and not come out. When he'd arrived back at Privet Drive, he had nearly broken the car door by shoving it open so hard that it actually came back and shut again. He had scanned the entire street before moving away from the car and towards to boot to help his Uncle with his school things. His Uncle had helped him get his trunk up the stairs, and once he had entered Harry's room, he had stood surveying his nephew with his giant red face. He looked as thought he was going to say something, then thought better of it and just muttered 'the bird cage is at the bottom of the stairs, dinner shouldn't' be too long' and walked out, closing the door behind him. Harry may not have liked the Dursley's, but he had never wanted them dead. He didn't wish death on anyone, apart from Voldemort.

That disgusting excuse of a wizard had no taken every single part of Harry's family away from him and left him with nothing. Sure, Harry knew he had friends, people who loved him and would do anything for him, and he loved them in return. What hurt him the most was that Harry's own parents had trusted Sirius enough to be the grown up, there for Harry if anything happened to them. They were gone and now so was he, and it was partially his fault he was gone. Like Dumbledore said, he couldn't take all the blame, the only other person to blame was Voldemort.

Harry sat up in bed and put his glasses on. Having his glasses on seemed to lessen the headache a little, but it was still there, a dull roar at the back of his head. Harry tried to rack his brains, tried hard to think of what he was dreaming about before he had woke up, but there was nothing there. If Voldemort sent him dreams, he always remembered them. All Harry had been seeing in his dreams of late were the last moments of Sirius's life, before he fell through the veil.

Determined not the think of that, he got out of bed, pulled some clothes out of his still packed trunk and dressed in haste. He knew that it was quite late in the morning. He arrived in the kitchen to find the Dursley's all sitting round their table with various drinks, watching the television. Harry came to a halt in the door way as he listened and watched. On the television, a women reporter was standing next the yesterday's scene outside kings cross.

"One witness, who requested to be anonymous, told us of the terrifying tale. He said that a man appeared out of nowhere, and stood waiting with a stick in his hand. When one family walked out of the station he attacked. He was pointing the wooden object towards the group, and sparks were shooting out, destroying anything in their path. The cars which were hit, the ones which the victims were hiding behind had huge craters in them. One of the victims of the attack shot sparks back, but it did nothing compared the havoc the other was wrecking. Other people, some dressed in all black robes wearing masks, others in what appear to be cloaks, started to appear. One person in particular, an old man, began to retaliate"

The screen shifted back to another news person sitting in the studio.

"Have you any news on what all this could mean? Have the police been able to answer any questions? There was more than one eye witness, surely they can't ignore this?" The news reader asked.

The reporter was listening to the question and nodding at the same time.

"The police have been very cloak and dagger, about this, if you excuse the term, but what we do know is someone called Harry Potter is involved. The attacker spoke quite clearly saying that this Harry Potter, who ever he may be, would not 'evade him this time'. It seems to be that this unknown attacker, who disappeared much the same manner he had appeared, was attempting an assassination"

Again the screen shifted back to the news room.

"What about the weapons used? Things like this have happened before. There have been so many eye witnesses of strange occurrences, flying cars, the unresolved murders 17 years ago? Is there something the British public does not know about"

"We can only speculate at this time, but the weapons used, as unusual as this sounds, seem to be wands. The police are just as baffled as we are, as the nation is. It seems that its highly likely the we have been very closed minded to what is happening around us. The station staff have video clippings of what happened both outside and inside the station, and we will be bringing those to you later today"

And the television switched again.

"Thank you for that, we will bring you more updates later, and more eye witness accounts, but the one thing that is at the forefront of most people's minds is, who is Harry Potter, and what had he got to do with yesterdays magical events? This is Tammy Broderick, reporting for Central News"

Harry was frozen in place. It wouldn't take long for muggles to realise they were in the middle of a war, especially now they had brought back the memories of 17 years ago, when the first war began. Muggles would now be on the look out for anything dangerous.

With the video clippings, Harry's world was done for, how could they stop those tapes? Did the ministry have any influence to get the tapes? And the neighbours! How long would it be before the neighbours remembered there was a Harry Potter living at number 4, who disappeared for months on end? Would they phone up and say they knew where one lived? Would the news people show up at Privet Drive? Would his Aunt and Uncle tell all about his world?

Hundreds of thoughts were flowing through Harry's head, so much so that he didn't realise all of the Dursley's were watching him, open mouthed. Harry decided that it was a bad idea to be downstairs, he had lost his appetite anyway. He turned round to go back down the hall when his Aunt Petunia called him back.

"Harry, whats going to happen?"

Her tone of voice made Harry turn round and walk back to the door frame. She sounded frightened, lost, like an abandoned child in a storm. Harry knew how she felt, because that was how he felt, and ironically, the first thing he was going to do when he got back up stairs was to write to Grimauld Place, and find out what he could, if anything. Harry sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes where they shone from underneath his glasses.

"I have no idea" He answered shortly. He sounded just as tired as his Aunt.

"What do you mean you have no idea? This is all down top your lot, I remember how it was 17 years ago!"

His uncle's moustache bristled as he got angry.

"All those funny deaths that were blamed on terrorists, it had nothing to do with anybody but you and your freaks" Harry's Uncle stood up and walked over to the window and leaned his palms on the sink.

"What are we supposed to do with you? The whole nation now knows that there is something wrong with you, that…that your marked for…death or something. What do we ruddy well do when one of our nosy neighbours phones and says there is someone by that name living here! What do we do then, I ask you?"

Harry thought it was best to let his Uncle carry on until he shut up. He didn't have it in him to argue this morning, he just wanted to go back to bed. He looked over at the table. His bony Aunt was sitting with her head in her hands and Dudley was sitting staring at the table.

"Well boy?" His Uncle asked, pushing away from the sink with his arms crossed in front of him, which was no easy feat considering the size of the man.

"I have no idea, is that what you wanted to hear? I don't know whats going to happen, do you really think I wanted this? Do you really think that this makes me happy, having a mass murderer after all my life? ALL THIS IS BECAUSE SOME WITCH MADE A PREDICTION, IM STUCK WITH NO FAMILY BECAUSE OF A PROPHESY! DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT MAKES ME HAPPY?"

Harry turned on his feet and stormed up the stairs, back into his bedroom and he slammed the door. Hedwig woke with a start and made a loud hooting noise to let him know she wasn't happy. She ruffled her feathers and went to stick her head back under her wing, but Harry stopped her.

"Don't you go back to sleep, I need you to take something to Grimauld Place"

He walked over and undid her cage. He knew she would come out of her own accord. He bent down and rummaged through his trunk until he found some parchment, a bottle of ink and a quill. He slumped down behind his desk and began to write;

To who ever is there

What is going on? Its been all over the muggle news and the muggles know my name! they know that I'm involved and that wands are real, and they're talking about what happened 17 years ago. Whats going to happen? Please contact me soon.

The Dursley's are being fine, apart from terrified someone will realise that the person on the telly is me and I live here

Harry

Harry folded the letter and called Hedwig from his head board to his arm. She flew over to his shoulder and sat there, where she nibbled his ear affectionately. He walked over to his trunk and pulled out the owl treats which had be rummaged to the top of the mess. He fed her a few and stroked her a couple of times, then tied the letter to her leg.

"This needs to go to Sir… to Grimauld Place. It doesn't matter who gets it, as long as someone does, OK?"

The snowy owl hooted once and took off through Harry's open window. Harry was left alone. He had been alone so much, especially towards the end of the term. He couldn't forgive himself for Sirius. No matter who said what, how little he thought about it, it was always there, hiding in the back of his mind. The pain of loss, a pain he knew all too well.

As he watched Hedwig disappear into the morning sun, he swore to himself, he swore that he would avenge his Godfather, he swore that he would be the victor in the fight between himself and Voldemort, and to contradict himself, he swore that he would never play the hero again.


	4. World Wide News

Chapter four

World Wide News

Harry had spent the whole day in his room, as well as the whole of yesterday, which meant his mood hadn't improved. The Dursley's had decided to keep the television in the living room on the news channel all day, which had not made Dudley happy. His gang had all gone on holiday, not all together, but with their own families, so he was stuck in with no friends. Aunt Petunia could be heard sending suggestions round the house after him, as he stormed from room to room proclaiming how bored he was.

Harry barley heard any of it. His Aunt had knocked on his bedroom door and told him supper was ready the night before, he told her he wasn't hungry. Normally, something like this would have brought his giant of an Uncle upstairs banging on his door threatening him to come down and eat what his Aunt had so kindly prepared for him, when she didn't have to at all, they could after all let Harry starve. It was always the same speech, that Harry could have recited it back to his Uncle, but that would have enraged him more so he never did.

No, today he had been completely left alone, and he hadn't enjoyed one minute of it. Hedwig still had not come back from yesterdays delivery, which had annoyed him even more. He knew that everyone at head quarters would be so busy that they would probably not even notice Hedwig, but that thought didn't make him care, he knew it should, but he was desperate for the knowledge of what was going on. Why was he always the last to know everything? He had faced more, defeated more and just plain done more than most adult witches and wizards, yet he was always the last to know.

Harry decided that he would take a walk, clear his head. He pulled himself up off the bed and then realised that he wasn't allowed out of the Dursley's house. As he was already up, he didn't think it would hurt from him to go into the back garden. He walked out of his room just as his Uncle Vernon as walking to the bottom of the stairs.

"You'd better come and see this" His Uncle grunted and he walked back into the living room.

Harry carried on down the stairs and followed his Uncle into the living room, where yet again, the whole Dursley's family were sitting watching the TV. The television was still on the all day news channel on sky. As Harry sat down, the news reporter from yesterday, who was leaning on his desk, started to speak.

"After the terrifying events outside Kings cross train station, in central London earlier this week, the nation has been in a state of uproar and fright at the unknown. Earlier today, we received an interview from someone who claims himself to be a 'wizard', and he also claims to know rather a lot about the terrifying events which took place in London"

Harry's heart stopped beating and his lungs ceased working.

The screen switched as Harry watched in panic. What had this wizard told the news people? What would the Ministry do? What could anyone do now that someone was about to spill the secrets of their world? This couldn't be happening.

The television screen now showed a man in shadow. They often did this when someone did not want to be seen, and Harry wasn't surprised that this wizard did not want to be seen, but people would still recognise his voice. Although the Wizarding world was vast, with huge numbers of witches and wizards across Europe, America and Asia, they didn't outnumber the humans. And the Wizarding community was a close knit one. Everyone seemed to know everyone.

As soon as the wizard started to talk, Harry recognised the voice. He was one of Voldemort's Death Eaters, one of the ones who had tried to get the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries. 

"I am a wizard, there are hundreds upon thousands of witches and wizards all over the world. Unknowing to Muggles, we live in our own societies…"

Harry's jaw dropped. He could not believe what he was hearing. The Death Eater was sitting there and telling the Muggle world their secrets! Harry didn't know what to do, but he couldn't peal his eyes away from the television screen. He had never watched television, it had never interested him, but he was barley blinking as he sat in disbelief and horror.

The wizard carried on, revealing that wizards had their own shopping centres, one of them was based in London itself.

"Diagon Ally is our where our main shops are. There, we can stock up on potion ingredients, buy our wands, buy food, just like you muggles"

Harry couldn't believe his ears, he was openly using wizarding words and terms as though they were common knowledge.

"We also have schools…' Harry's heart stopped beating and he stopped breathing. There was no way…he wouldn't…he couldn't…

"Every witch and wizard in the country will go to school, the school that English witches and wizards go to is called Hogwarts, I went there myself, quite a few years ago now"

Harry hadn't realised he had moved himself to the floor as the wizard had spoken. He was now kneeling on the floor in front of the TV, digging his fingers into the Dursley's carpet in anger. His fingernails were bending backwards a couple were starting to bleed, but Harry had not noticed this. Red hot rage was coursing through his veins.

How could this wizard do this to their world? To his own world, to Harry's world? Didn't Voldemort realise that this would make things harder for both parties, that now the muggle authorities would be after him, too? Maybe Voldemort had just lost the plot completely? If he wanted to rule, if he wanted things in the dark ages didn't he need people to live? By pitting the two worlds against each other he was doing himself more harm than good.

The Muggles would now be accusing their own parents of being a with or wizard! Harry was just imagining the Salem witch trials becoming the Surrey witch trials, when he heard his own name.

"Harry Potter, the boy who was nearly killed yesterday is one of the most famous wizards of our time, but for nothing special. His parents died fighting against a good cause and he became famous for surviving"

Harry's blood was boiling. How dare he say that Harry's parents had died fighting against a bad cause? They had been fighting scum like him.

A different, softer voice came over the microphone.

"What about the other man in the street? Who is he?"

"He is a lord of the wizarding world, the most powerful wizard alive"

Harry was now seeing spots in front of his eyes, and he was feeling sick with anger. He had never felt anger like it. Not when Cedric died, not when Sirius died, not even when he was destroying his Headmaster's office a few weeks ago. This was an anger beyond rage, he didn't even feel like himself anymore.

Harry felt something coarse through him, he couldn't describe exactly how it felt, other than a giant snake was sliding around in him, then he heard a laugh, that horrible laugh which he knew too well. Voldemort's laugh was high and hissing, just like that animals he loved so much.

His scar burst in to flames and he clamped his bleeding hands to his head and fell onto his back. Harry felt like he had been pushed aside, like someone else had taken over his body. He remembered the feeling from a few weeks before, when Voldemort had entered his body in the Ministry and tried to make Dumbledore kill Harry in hopes he might finally kill Voldemort, too.

"That's it, Harry, feel the anger…build it…feed it…it feels wonderful…let go…use that hatred" And Voldemort laughed again as he tried to make Harry reach for his wand which was in his back pocket.

As soon as he realised Voldemort was inside his mind as well as his body, he had closed his eyes. Harry wasn't sure what Voldemort's limitations were, but he had a pretty good idea that Voldemort could see through his eyes. He didn't want to endanger the Dursley's again, he didn't want to endanger anyone again.

"Open your eyes for me, Harry, let me take a look at what you see, show me the home you love so much"

Harry was in so much pain. Holding an evil spirit, such as Voldemort's inside your body for any length of time was painful, but to try and hold on this long was killing him. To get rid of Harry once and for all, all Voldemort would have to do would be stay inside him, Harry was sure it would be the end of him.

At that thought, he realised he didn't want to give up. He pushed himself beyond the pain and he pitted himself against Voldemort. It was like a backwards tug of war, Harry was pushing and trying as hard as he could get Voldemort out of him, and Voldemort was trying to push Harry's spirit aside, to get into him.

"You will not escape me for much longer, Potter, you have been marked for death"

And with that, Voldemort was gone. The pain in Harry's scar was nothing more than a dull ach, the burning inside went.

Harry lay on the Dursley's living room floor, sweat pouring out of him, blood under his fingernails, hands still clutching his head. He looked round to see his Aunt and Uncle hiding behind the sofa.

Aunt Petunia was crying and Uncle Vernon was clutching her, giving and trying to gain comfort by the look of it. Harry would have laughed at them if he had not been through what he just had.

Harry wanted the reporters to find him, he wanted them to show up at the door. He had been slated, ridiculed, called a liar and disturbed all last year by reporters for telling the truth and that had hurt, but he would not stand for it any more, not in the muggle world. He was not going to be a laughingstock for Voldemort's cause anymore.

Harry looked back at the Television and the scenes from Kings Cross stations were being played. Harry could see the back of his own head, his wand held in his hand hiding behind a car. The next moment, Remus had appeared out of thin air next to Harry, his own wand out.

The camera moved upwards slightly and he could see Voldemort standing in the middle of the street, a huge grin on his face as he sent a curse toward the car where Harry was hiding behind. The next moment, Harry saw a flash of light miss Voldemort by inches. That had been Harry's doing.

There was a tapping on the living room window. Everyone looked round, half scared half in suspense, not knowing what they would see when they looked at the window, only to find an owl tapping on the window. Harry let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in those couple of seconds. Harry stood up and walked to the window and opened it outward to let in the owl. Harry had a funny feeling where this owl had come from. Harry took the letter from the owl's beak and with a small squawk the owl took off again. Harry turned the letter over to see his name and address written in his Headmaster's scrawling hand writing.

Harry ripped open the letter and pulled out a small bit of parchment with a hurried note written on. The note consisted of only a few lines;

Harry

We already know of what has been on the muggle news. I have my theories as to what is going on, but I would rather share those with you in person. Please do not leave your Aunt and Uncle's house just yet. If your neighbours have recognised you and they come round or send anyone round, get your family to tell them you are not at home. I will be over later to see you.

Yours sincerely D .

The 'D' was done very elegantly, as was the rest of the writing. Harry never understood how Dumbledore wrote the way he did.

Harry read and re-read the letter a couple of times, as though the Professors words were lifeline or a comfort. Then he scrunched the paper in his fist and looked at the his Aunt and Uncle who were standing, watching him from the other side of the room, as though they were afraid he was rabid and would attack them any minute. Harry decided not to get angry, he didn't want Voldemort to have access to his vision or his body for that matter. He simply said;

"I'm going upstairs. That was from Dumbledore, my Head teacher. He's coming over later to talk to me. He said that if anyone comes to the door, even the neighbours, to say that I'm out, or what ever. Just tell them I'm not here"

Harry waited for them to move, make some sign or noise that they understood what he had said, but he was waiting in vane. The Dursley's were too frightened to even breath. His Uncle Vernon was as white as a ghost, as was his Aunt Petunia. The only colour on her face was the red marks under her eyes from where she'd been crying.

Harry couldn't stand it anymore. He walked over the living room and took the stairs two at a time. He got to his room and slammed the door. He tried to gather himself. He was tried of feeling this angry all of the time. He counted to ten calming himself down and breathing. He put the note from Dumbledore on his desk and leaned against his window ledge. Two of the neighbours were out, it looked like they had been shopping, and they were standing on the opposite side of the road, talking and pointing at the house.

Harry closed the Curtains and lay on his bed. He knew he had things to do, like unpacking and homework, but he couldn't muster the energy to rise off the bed. He felt as though he hadn't slept in a week, and technically, he hadn't. Not properly at any rate.

He couldn't believe that he had only been at Hogwarts less than a week ago. He normally missed the place, he had just wanted out of there, away from everything, away from the wizarding world for a while. But the school was his home, it was his hide away, where he could just be him for even short whiles at a time. Until then next task came along.

He thought back to the year before when he was so very angry at being left alone, not knowing anything, being trapped at the Dursley's for most of the summer. Wishing every moment he was with his friend's, with…

Harry laughed. He found it funny how now, all had wanted to was to be left alone to grieve. Left alone, away from people looking at him and talking about his life, away from prying eyes, away from the people who knew and loved him. He had wanted away from the wizarding world so badly even the though the only way he would be away from it would be to be at the Dursley's didn't deter his need.

All he wanted was his world to be left alone.

He knew that the people he loved could possibly be in danger if the muggles took magic being really badly. God only knew what the muggle government would do. He knew that his world was better off left alone. And even as much as he wanted it, he knew he was not better off left alone.


	5. Dumbledore

Chapter 5

Dumbledore

Harry hadn't realise he was asleep until he was woken up by voices coming from downstairs. He could hear his Uncle's low, droning voice, but he couldn't tell if he was angry or talking normally. As Harry sat up pulling off his glasses to rub where they had dug into his face while he had been lying on them, Another voice floated up the stairs. One he could never mistake. His Headmaster was downstairs. Harry shot out of the bed so quickly, he felt slightly dizzy and wavered a little on his feet before he set himself straight and went for his door.

Harry grabbed the door and pulled it open to reveal his Uncle and Dumbledore standing in the door way. His Uncle looked shocked to see Harry standing there, but he recovered quickly then started coughing and mumbled 'I'll be down stairs' before walking off.

Silence stretched between pupil and teach, just the groaning of the stairs breaking it. Harry hadn't seen Dumbledore properly since he had returned from the Department of Mysteries. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about seeing him, whether he was angry or glad, he didn't know. The one thing he did know, was that he would be happy if his headmaster was bringing him news of what was happening out side the four walls of this house.

"Harry, how are you?"

Dumbledore asked him. Harry was unsure if how to answer so he just shrugged his shoulders. Dumbledore smiled.

May I come in?" Harry nodded.

He didn't know why his voice was stuck in his throat, but he hadn't quite expected to wake up to his Professor waiting outside his room.

Dumbledore walked into Harry's room and sent his gaze around the room, taking things in. Harry's room was quite bare. All that was in there was a bed, a desk, a wardrobe, Harry's Hogwarts trunk, which was still packed from the end of term, Hedwig's cage, and a lamp. Harry's bed was made, but messy from where he'd been lying on it. Dumbledore's gaze returned to his young student.

"May I sit down, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, indicating to the messy bed.

"Yeah sure…err… it's not the most tidy room at the moment…" Harry shuffled around his room and pulled things about a bit, then waved his hand for Dumbledore to sit on the bed.

The old Headmaster sat on the side of the bed facing the window. Harry perched on the edge of his desk and waited for Dumbledore to tell him what was going on. 

Dumbledore looked Harry in the eyes and sighed.

"Harry you are way too grown up for your own good" The old wizard commented. He looked tired, aware, but tired.

Harry frowned at the comment, and was about to say something when he carried on.

"We cannot stop the interviews coming, Harry. The Minister has now let it be known that anyone giving an interview to the muggle population about our world will be sent to Azkaban, but it had not stopped the damage that has already been done"

Harry frowned.

"What damage? How have the press got hold of that interview already?" Harry asked, still frowning.

"I have my theories, but I will save those for a little while" Dumbledore held up his hand to stop Harry speaking

"I will tell you my theories, Harry, but there are a few things I need to tell you first"

Dumbledore looked at Harry and waited for him to acknowledge what he had said.

Harry thought it over. There wasn't much to think over, Dumbledore said he would tell Harry, which meant he would. Although the Professor had kept things from Harry, he had never out right lied to him. Harry nodded for him to continue.

"I thought you ought to know that an old friend of your parents, acting out in what she thought was good faith, has give an interview about you and your parents and what happened" He finished on a quiet note.

Dumbledore was looking intently into Harry's eyes, as though he was trying to see Harry's reaction to the news in their depths.

Harry barley even flickered. The only thing he felt was annoyed at the fact he hadn't gotten there to defend his parents and the cause they died for first. When Harry did not react the way Dumbledore though he would, he carried on with the things he needed to tell the teenager.

"Unfortunately, like I said, we cannot stop the stories coming out. The muggle media is as keen to hear our secrets as some of us are to tell them. The Minister has spoken to the daily prophet and has put a choke on all of the British wizarding nation, but it came too late, and some people, mainly known Death Eaters, are purposely ignoring the choke and revealing our world more and more"

The Headmaster finished and was looking at his hands. Harry felt a sudden surge of anger, but suppressed it almost straight away. He knew he had to start schooling his emotions and he knew he still had to give his Headmaster the news.

"Professor, what do you think is happening? Voldemort is behind this, Isn't he? It was one of his Death Eaters giving the interview on the muggle telly" Harry asked quietly from his seat on the desk.

The old Professor sighed deeply.

"I can only give you my suspicions, Harry, my theories at best. Like I said in the train station a couple of days ago, I believe that Voldemort want the ministry's efforts to be divided, that way there will be less spot light on him and his rise to ultimate power"

Harry frowned. Although what Dumbledore was saying could be true, why do it like that? Harry voiced his question to Dumbledore.

"But why do it like that? Why wait for me to come back from Hogwarts before doing it? He could have done it as soon as he was discovered, after what happened in the department of Mysteries. Why attack me to show himself?"

"I do not know Harry, nor do I know if that is the reason he did attack, it seems the most likely, but it might not be the only one. I seem to be miss judging things too much these days" He said with sigh.

Harry hated to see Dumbledore looking defeated. He felt if Dumbledore was defeated, so were they all, everyone who was fighting against Voldemort. Even though Harry knew he must be the one to eventually give the final blow, he always felt that Dumbledore was their strength. Voldemort didn't fear Harry. He feared Dumbledore.

"It's not your fault" Harry heard himself say.

"What isn't my fault, Harry?" He asked quietly.

"I just wanted someone to blame other than myself. It isn't your fault. None of it is" Harry felt better getting this off his chest, but he couldn't bring himself to look at his Headmaster.

"Thank you Harry" He answered quietly

A small silence stretched between them, one that neither wanted to fill.

"You won't be here for much longer, Harry. If we can give it until the end of next week before we whisk you off to join your friends. Molly is very worried about your eating and sleeping. I don't believe she'll rest until she can see and feel you." Dumbledore told him with a small smile

Harry nodded not sure he could speak.

"I know its a lot to ask, but can you not wander to far away from your Aunt and Uncles house?" Harry looked up but nodded.

Dumbledore smiled at him.

"Your mother and father would be so proud of the person you've turned out to be Harry. I knew them both very well, and I see so much of them in you, shinning out, especially in times of need. Your more like them than you'll ever know"

Harry had heard all of this before, but the way his teacher had worded it made it seem more special. Then he had a sudden thought.

"Professor?" Harry said as the old man was getting up off the bed.

"Yes Harry?"

"What's going to happen about Sir…" Harry could still not say his name.

Dumbledore reached out and put his hand on his young ward's shoulder.

"The Ministry is finally happy to accept the fact that Sirius was an innocent man. All charges have been dropped and he will be known as an innocent man wrongly accused" Dumbledore told Harry with a slight smile.

"But it doesn't make any difference now. He's gone. He wont be able to enjoy it… wont get the chance to walk as a free man…" Harry felt his anger rising and remembered what he had to tell his Head teacher.

"We had this conversation before, Harry, it has made all the difference. Sirius and his loved ones knew of his innocence, and that was enough. But he wanted to show the world who he was, and you helped do that, yet again you helped set him free"

Harry thought this over but didn't share his true feelings.

"Professor, earlier today I got very angry when I was watching the news, and Voldemort entered me again…like he did in the ministry head quarters"

Dumbledore's look changed completely. His face had gone from being soft and passive to showing awareness and interest.

"What did he do while in you, Harry? What did he ask you"

Dumbledore had taken his hand off Harry's shoulder and was looking him in the eye.

"He tried to make me show him where I was, where the house is. He kept telling me to open my eyes"

"Did you tell him anything? Did you open your eyes?" Dumbledore asked, still looking Harry directly in the eyes

"No. I kept my eyes closed and didn't speak. He kept urging me to tell him, but I didn't" He explained.

Dumbledore straightened and some sort of tenseness left him.

"We have been very fortunate when it comes to Voldemort and his conquests. It seems now that Voldemort can enter you when your feeling strong emotions" Dumbledore seemed to be saying this more to himself than Harry. He looked at Harry and gave a slight, but meaningful smile.

"When you come to stay with us, we will have a talk about your emotions and occlumency"

Dumbledore held up his hand as Harry was about to protest.

"Professor Snape will not be teaching you this year, Harry, I will. Now I must be going. Write if you need me, you know where I am"

Harry nodded, feeling slightly better after seeing his Headmaster.

"I'll be in touch" He winked, smiled and laid his hand on Harry's shoulder then disaperated.


	6. Exposure and Comfort

Chapter 6

Exposure and Comfort

It had been a week since the situation with Voldemort at the train station and the press had not let up on trying to find the truth, infact, if anything, it was getting worse. Harry had decided to take out an order to receive the Daily Prophet so that he could keep up with everything in the wizarding world. Unlike last year, Harry didn't need to read through the whole, paper to try and find the information he wanted, it was plastered all over the front page.

So far, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic had been in talks with the Government and he was doing all he could to stop the media mayhem, but no one could come up with a convincing enough lie to cover it. The thing that made Harry laugh was they had suggested that they release the whole scene was a shooting for a movie, but that rumour had been demolished. There were too many eye witnesses to the whole thing. They couldn't send out the obliviators to get rid of the memories, as they would have to do the whole of Britain at the same time. Things were looking pretty bad for the secrecy of the wizarding world.

Harry was watching all the news he could and reading two or three muggle papers a day, much to the dismay of the Dursley's. The thing that had worried him this morning was a description of himself. An anonymous witness who had only just come forward, had suddenly remembered what Harry looked like.

He knew that this was probably a wizard trying to cause trouble, but these was no way of knowing. Harry had a sinking feeling it wouldn't be long before the Dursley's had knocks on the door from either the press or the neighbours, wanting to know if Harry Potter did live here.

Harry had never had much to do with his on/off neighbours of Privet Drive, he doubted any of them actually knew his name, but they had seen him and it wasn't hard for them to put two and two together and come up with Harry.

Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron and Remus had been writing everyday, saying almost exactly the same thing over and over again. As nice as it was to have something from his friends, it would be good if it wasn't just, 'hope your ok' or 'you'll be with us again soon', 'can't say much, as you know', and 'don't worry about whats being said'

Harry knew they had to be careful with what they sent, because if it slipped into the wrong hands, it would all be over. Harry couldn't forget the time last year when Hedwig had been hurt by Umbridge delivering him a letter from Sirius.

Harry had had his quiet dinner with the Dursley's, then had headed up stairs to his bedroom, and stayed in there all evening. He had cleaned out Hedwig's cage and finally had emptied his school trunk. As often as everyone was saying that he would be joining them all soon, he was sick of having to rummage through his trunk every time he wanted something.

Lying on his bed was all he seemed to be doing lately. That, and trying to control his emotions. Harry realised that it wasn't just anger that made him so open to Voldemort, it was all emotions. The only other emotion Harry was experiencing at the moment was grief, and it was slowly eating at him. He couldn't even thinking about his Godfather with out his stomach dropping out and his constant stinging eyes filling up.

It was the knowledge that he was never going to see him again, never going to speak to him again or write to him. Harry was never going hear him bustle about Grimauld Place or mutter under his breath when he thought no one was listening.

Harry felt that familiar twinge in his stomach and quickly changed his thoughts to other things. He hadn't written to Hermione and Ron in a couple of days. There was no point in sending a letter to each of them, as they were both at the Burrow, but these was also nothing to say. All he had sent back in reply to their messages was 'I'm fine, see you soon'.

He knew Hermione had gone home for two nights and was back with the Weasley's for the rest of the summer. Harry had a feeling her parents weren't too happy about it, as she hadn't spent much time at home since she started Hogwarts and had gotten friendly with Harry, Ron and the Weasley's. She had spent more time at the Burrow than at home the last five years.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by loud noises coming from outside. Harry had his curtains drawn and the lights off, so when lots of cars started to screech to a halt, and their doors were opened and slammed outside number four, Privet Drive, it was hard to miss.

Frowning, Harry got up from his bed and walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains to look outside and see what was going on, but when Harry looked out over Privet Drive he couldn't believe his eyes.

There were about 6 news vans, just left in the middle of the quiet, small road. The headlights and the sliding doors left open. There were news reporters with microphones, cameramen with big video cameras rested on their shoulders, lights and flashes were everywhere. Pictures were being taken of the road, the house, the car, everything.

Harry had been waiting for this for a week, and even though he had thought a hundred times over what he would do, he felt in a flap. He could hear the Dursley's down stairs talking in raised voices. Uncle Vernon was cursing the day 'that boy' was dropped on his door step, Aunt Petunia was worrying over the neighbours and what they must be thinking and, of course, her garden. Dudley wasn't at home, and Harry was glad.

Hedwig was screeching loudly, and this brought Harry back to himself. He pulled open the desk draw and grabbed a piece of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink. He hastily jotted down a letter and addressed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore,

The muggle reporters have found me, they're out side the house now.

Need help

Harry

Harry opened Hedwig's cage and she jumped straight on to his arm, she seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation. Harry walked through into his Aunt and Uncle's bedroom, tying the letter to her leg. He didn't think it a wise idea for the reporters to see an owl flying out of the window.

"Hedwig, get this to Dumbledore as fast as you possible can" He told her before opening the window. She hooted her understanding, spread her wings and slightly struggling to get herself through the window, took off into the night.

Harry heard thunderous steps bounding up the stairs. He had a very bad feeling about this. His uncle was a blur as he shot into Harry's room. Seeing that Harry wasn't in there, he let out a roar.

"Where are you boy?" Harry walked out of the room and came face to face with his Uncle.

If Vernon Dursley found it strange that his nephew was in his room it didn't show. He grabbed Harry by the scruff of his neck and pulled him, none too gently, down the stairs.

"I've had enough! No more of this…this…nightmare. This is your bloody mess, you sort it!"

Vernon Dursley practically shouted it down Harry's ear. He grabbed onto his Uncle's hand, and was trying to pry his fingers from his collar with his ears ringing.

Harry kept trying to pull against his Uncle to get free. He knew he could not go outside, if he did he would be filmed and this might have been just what Voldemort was waiting for. At the moment, Harry doubted they knew much more than a suspected 'Harry Potter look alike lived at number four Privet Drive' If they saw Harry's face, they would know for certain.

Uncle Vernon was fiddling with the lock. He was finding it hard to hold Harry who was struggling and pulling like a mad thing possessed to get out of his Uncle's grip, and try to open the door. Harry was having trouble breathing now and black spots were dancing in front of his eyes. If he didn't get loose soon he knew he would pass out.

Aunt Petunia noticed apparently had noticed this too.

"Vernon, no! Stop it!" Petunia cried. She sounded upset and slightly angry.

"Let me go!" Harry managed to get out.

There was a loud crack and a shout of pain as Harry dropped to the floor. His hands went to the neck of his T-shirt and he pulled it away from this throat. He breathed deeply, gulping in air, but it hurt his throat. Harry felt someone's hand on his shoulder, and he flinched away from the hand. He to his back to the wall and stood up, using the wall for support. He hit his head on a shelf and the dancing black spots were back again. A soothing voice came to his attention.

He looked up to find Professor McGonagall, Tonks and Professor Dumbledore standing in the Dursley's small hall way. Tonks had her wand pointed at Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia was cowering behind him. It was Professor McGonagall that had her hand on his shoulder and her voice he heard.

"Potter, are you ok? Come on, look at me" She put her hands to either side of his face and looked into his eyes, which he was still trying to focus.

Dumbledore leaned down next to Professor McGonagall.

"Harry can you stand?" He asked.

Harry assessed his body. Now that there was blood flowing to his brain again he was beginning to feel better. He didn't answer his Headmasters question. Instead, he braced his back against the wall and sort of slid up it, avoiding the shelf, into a standing position. His two professors stood up with him.

Professor McGonagall still looked worried but Dumbledore smiled.

"What do you think you are doing in my home?" Harry's Uncle asked, sounding rather shaky.

"Tonks" Dumbledore said softly. She stepped back away from the Dursley's and a tension eased out of his huge Uncle.

"We have come to help sort out this" Dumbledore told him, indication to the door where Reporters were still stationed. Harry noticed this and began to worry.

"They've heard everything" He said looking from the door to Dumbledore. He shook his head.

"I cast a silencing charm before we aparated. Now we need to sort this out as quickly as possible. Minerva, would you please be so kind as to take Harry upstairs? Tonks, if you would?" Dumbledore held his hand out to the door, as though he were offering Tonks to go before him.

Harry looked at Tonks. She smiled and winked at Harry then her face began to change. Her hair, which was blonde and to her waist, got shorter and darker, her facial features became less feminine.

Soon, Harry was looking at a teenage boy with black shortish hair, shorter than his own, with brown eyes. Harry looked and Tonks and frowned. Looking, he could see that someone could easily mistake this identity for him. Tonks had done a good job of looking like him, but not looking like him.

"Wotcha, Harry, Henry" And she stuck out her hand to him. Harry shook her hand lightly, and smiled. Her voice was still a little high for a boy of his age, but it would work.

"Come on Potter" Professor McGonagall gave him a slight push towards the stairs.

Harry walked up the stairs towards his bedroom, his legs were shaking slightly, as was the rest of him. He flicked on the light and blushed slightly. He always did this when ever someone entered his bedroom. Not only was it small and dull, it was untidy. Harry didn't think he had enough things to be untidy but at that moment he realised he did.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and her nostrils flared, he knew from experience that this was she did when she wanted to say something, but had decided to hold her tongue. Harry stood in the centre of his room, when he noticed that Hedwig was sitting in her open cage. She hooted softly and flew out to land on his arm, the letter he had written only minutes ago still attached to her leg. He untied the letter, and stroked her feathers haphazardly, not really paying attention to what was happening around him.

Outside Harry could hear the Dursley's and Tonks talking to the reporters, but it was all in the distance to him. Harry had felt numb since he had arrived back at Privet Drive. Even though he had been completely left alone to his own devices, it wasn't helping one bit.

Professor McGonagall's voice brought him back in the room.

"Harry, I need you to pack all of your things. We will be coming to properly collect you during the night"

He looked at his professor. It sounded as though her voice was breaking slightly. She looked Harry in the eyes, and the way she looked at him made him feel like he was being surveyed by a favourite aunt, or grandmother, even. As hard as the women was, she had a good heart that made her such a good head of house, she had played mother to Harry on more than one occasion.

She walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It will get batter, Harry. Soon things will start to fall back into place for you, and things will feel better"

Harry was unsure of this message, but it meant a lot that she said it and it suddenly made him feel better. Harry had a feeling she had lost someone to Voldemort's 'great' cause. As sick as it sounded, the fact that she understood and knew how he felt, it made him feel better.

"Now, come along. Look at the state of this room, Potter! Your mother would be up in arms!" She exclaimed looking round the room.

This made Harry smile.

"I take it mum was a neat freak?" He asked.

It always made him feel better talking about his mum and dad.

The old witch smiled.

"She used to run around, chasing your father and Sirius for the mess they made in their house. The amount of times she complained about falling over James's broom stick… they used to make me laugh. Then when you come along she was even worse, so James and Sirius would play up more"

Harry laughed and looked at his feet while he smiled, trying to imagine his mum chasing his dad around a house. When he looked back up, McGonagall had a small smile still playing on her face as she surveyed the son of the people she was so fond of. Then she lost some of her smile and took a step towards Harry.

"They would have been so proud of you, Harry. You have no idea how proud we all are of you, but James and Lilly would have loved the person you've turned into. I know Sirius did"

Her smile slipped into a more solemn one. Harry's smile slipped and he carried on walking round the room, picking things up to put in his trunk.

"Don't you agree, Harry? You don't think they would be proud of you?" She asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Yeah, dead impressed"

He laughed, and it wasn't a happy laugh in any sense of the word. He held up his hand started to tick things off his fingers as he spoke.

"I got Sirius killed, I nearly got all of my friends killed... As well as myself. I'm sure they would be really impressed" He said, not looking at her. He was staring at the closed curtains over the window.

"Harry, you did what you felt you had to do" She told him quietly.

"Please professor, I don't want to talk about it…yet…I just…" He didn't know.

Professor McGonagall took a breath to say something when Dumbledore and Tonks, who had gone back to looking normal (or at least what she looked like before she changed into Henry) appeared at the door.

"Harry are you nearly done packing?" Dumbledore asked, looking between his deputy and his student. Harry didn't answer, he just carried on packing.

"Here, let me help" Professor McGonagall waved her wand and a jet of white light came out of her wand and went round the room, like a little tornado. As it touched things, they flew into the trunk and neatened them selves up.

"I really must learn that one" Harry muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He was a little annoyed, because now he didn't have anything to distract him.

"Harry we're leaving now. The press are satisfied that there is no Harry Potter living here, they were misinformed" Dumbledore said with a slight smile. Harry nodded.

"At 3 o'clock, some order members will arrive in your back garden. I want you to wait until Remus comes to you before you go anywhere, alright?" Dumbledore asked softly, as though he were talking to a small frightened child. Harry normally hated this tone, but he didn't care anymore. He nodded his understanding.

"We have much to discuss at headquarters tomorrow.."

"Hang on, we're not going back to Grimauld place are we?" Harry started. He simply wasn't ready to renter that house yet.

"The house will only reopen its self to you, Harry, you are the rightful owner now. Sirius left it to you" Professor McGonagall told him.

Harry wasn't surprised but didn't have the energy to argue and he certainly didn't want to talk about what his Godfather had or hadn't left him.

"I know you do not want to go back there, but it will be safest. There are always order members there, and the house has mass amounts of protective charms" Dumbledore tried to make him understand.

Harry just nodded absentmindedly, not committing to saying anything. Well, what was there to say? Dumbledore, probably sensing Harry didn't want to discuss it anymore, began to speak.

"Right well, Harry I will talk to you tomorrow evening. I'm sure you will want to go to bed when you get to Grimauld place"

Dumbledore walked over to Harry and placed his hands either side of Harry's shoulders.

"Harry I am worried about you, and I want us to talk tomorrow. As unready as you may be, it is necessary, I feel"

Harry wanted to protest, but he knew it would be no good. Dumbledore did not back down.

"Remember what I said Harry, and stay safe, you will be among friends soon" He finished

"See you later Harry" Tonks said with a hearty wink.

Professor McGonagall laid her hand on his shoulder, then they all disaperated. People were doing that a lot in his room lately he thought to him self.


	7. Fight For Life His Father

Chapter 7

Fight for life; His father pride and joy

Harry's alarm started to go off, dragging him out of what felt like a very short sleep. He looked at the time on the alarm, it was 2:00 in the morning. Harry was straining to think why on earth he would set his alarm to go off at 2:00 in the morning. Then he remembered the Order were coming to pick him up at 3:00. A sudden urge of happiness surged through him as he sat up and swung his feet over the bed, until he remembered he was going to be going back to his Godfathers house. Harry covered his eyes with his hands, fell back onto the bed and rubbed them, as if that would help wake him up. I didn't.

He rolled out of bed without making it, walked into the bathroom and turned on the tap. While he was cleaning himself up, his mind wandered to thoughts of what it would be like to be back with his real family. Although Harry was related to none of them, Ron and his Family, and Hermione, had felt more like his true family than the Dursley's ever had. Ron, Hermione and Harry had been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts. The three of them had gotten close after Harry and Ron had locked Hermione in toilet with a troll, and then had rescued her. Ron's mother, Molly, had on more than one occasion said that Harry was as good as one of her own children, and Harry appreciated this now, more than anything.

Especially now that he had lost Sirius.

And then his mind mulled over the Prophecy. Harry had barley thought about it since he had arrived back at Privet Drive. He wanted to block the last few weeks he had spent at Hogwarts out of his memory for good. The Prophecy stated that he must either kill or be killed; not two very good options. The Prophecy in its self may not have been in the forefront of Harry's mind, but the part of murder or be murdered had

He shook himself physically, as if shaking himself would shake all of the thoughts away. Harry knew that he would never be able to shake off the burden of the prophecy, or of the loss of his Godfather, but he was leaving Privet Drive, so that was one thing to be grateful for. He would rather be anywhere than stuck with his Aunt and Uncle.

Harry walked back into his bed room and looked round. Professor McGonagall had packed everything he needed as far as he could see. Harry did a check round his bed room for anything left that he might need. He didn't see anything, and so at 2:30, Harry sat on his bed, fully awake, with his trunk, Firebolt and Hedwig's empty cage all packed and ready to go. The only thing he was missing now was Hedwig, as she had gone out hunting just after Dumbledore, McGonagall and Tonks had left. Harry had left his window open so that Hedwig could get back in if she got here before he left. I she didn't, he wouldn't worry, she always found him.

Harry felt the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck bristle as everything suddenly started to get cold. What was a relatively warm night in July, began to feel like a frosty winters morning. Harry could see his breath coming out of his mouth. Harry rose from his bed and walked towards his window, slowly. Dread was coursing through him and he already knew, before he reached the window, what he would standing out side in Privet Drive.

There were no less than fifteen Dementors and five Death Eaters standing in the middle of Privet drive, all looking at the Dursley's house. Harry's heart jumped into his mouth and started to choke him. He could feel the blood rushing too fast through his veins. He could hear his life source rushing too quickly through his body.

"Come out, come out, ity bity Potter"

Bellatrix Lestrange's voice rung through the darkened air and into Harry's bedroom through the open window.

Harry didn't know what to do. If he went out there, he wouldn't have a chance. Against the Dementors he might have, but not against five fully grown wizards who knew more curses than the ever would.

Harry had to think quickly. He looked around his room, why he didn't know, as nothing in here would save him - even if he could hold the Death Easters off long enough to get a letter to London, Hedwig wasn't here to deliver it.

"Come on, think!" He whispered to himself. His wand was already in his hand.

He looked over to the clock on his bedside table. It was 2:35, 25 minutes before the Order members would arrive. He knew there was no way he could contact them before then, so he had to get himself through it. Again.

"Potter, you either come down to us, or we will come up to you. Its your choice" Another of the Death Eaters announced.

There was nothing else Harry could do. He couldn't think of anything that would save his neck this time, not with the odds piling against him. If he could hold out for about 20 minutes then he might be alright, and that was only if the Death Eaters didn't know about the Order arriving to collect him.

Harry shook his head. He had no chance.

Harry all but ran down the stairs and to the front door. He heard his Uncle Vernon grunt slightly upstairs in bed, but he had not woken. Harry glanced again up the stairs and made to open the front door. Before he did, he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the lock. 'Please', he thought, 'If I ever need luck, help, or what ever has gotten me through before now, I need it more than ever'

Harry took hold of the lock again and turned it, along with the keys that were already in the lock, to unlock and open the front door. As he stepped out on the drive, his heart dived from his mouth to his stomach and he had the feeling he wouldn't be alive much longer. He inwardly sighed as he looked to the top of the drive to find Voldemort standing there with his wand raised, and a huge grin spread across his face.

"So Harry, we meet yet again" He said softly.

Harry stood rooted to the spot, it was like ice had frozen round his feet, making it impossible for him to move. He wasn't sure if this was fear or not, but it stopped him from moving completely.

"Come closer, Harry. Let me see your face properly as you die" Voldemort said and his Death Eaters started to laugh.

There was a popping noise and few of the Death Eaters turned to see what had made it, but nothing could be found. Nothing was coming to save Harry.

Harry felt a gust of wind pick up. It blew his longish hair around his face and ruffled his large T-Shirt. Voldemort laughed, and Harry suddenly realised what was happening again. Harry looked up the drive toward the evil wizard as he laughed. He wanted to ask what was so funny, but doubted it was a good idea, so he kept his thoughts to himself. Unfortunately, Harry was about to find out just what was so funny.

"Your foolish friends cannot help you now Harry, not now I've put my own little charm around this particular road"

His Death Eaters laughed again.

"Now, down to business Harry. I would very much like you to tell me what I wish to know, after that, I may grant you an easy death" Voldemort smiled, his red eyes gleamed.

Harry couldn't describe how he was feeling other than numb. He didn't move from where was standing, at least by the house he had some small form of shelter, and he could run back in for all the good it would do him. From what Voldemort had said, Harry gathered there might be people from the Order already here, but Voldemort had put some sort of spell around Privet drive. Great, Harry thought to himself.

The one thing that was confusing Harry the most is how Voldemort had found him, when his mothers blood was supposed to be protecting him. Harry had noticed that Voldemort had not stepped on the drive yet, but he could have just been standing there for dramatic effect. Harry nearly laughed.

Voldemort noticed some shift in Harry's face and the grin was wiped off his own.

"Whats this? Harry Potter is going to come smiling to his death? How very typical" No one laughed this time, and Harry finally found his voice.

"Well, I did think about having hysterics, but its just too much effort" He sighed.

Harry was tired of this, and somewhere deep inside, he knew he wanted over with it now. Maybe death wouldn't be too bad of an idea. He had lost Sirius, his parents, almost everything. There was nothing more Voldemort could take from him that wouldn't leave him mostly dead anyway.

"Potter, how very like your father you are. He too did not know when to keep that so smart mouth of his shut" He said, snarling.

Harry could see Voldemort bracing, his fists were clenched and his back was bent slightly and he had a look of pure rage on his face. That was another thing that had just occurred to Harry, how was his scar not killing him? Harry was less than ten feet away from

Voldemort, and he felt nothing, not his anger. His scar wasn't hurting him, he felt…just him. Harry figured that the wards surrounding the house that Dumbledore had placed must still be holding, and that's what Voldemort was fighting against. That why he wasn't on the actual property yet.

No sooner had the thought popped into Harry's mind, he felt his scar beginning to prickle, but he didn't dare show it. If Voldemort knew that he was winning against the wards, he would try equally as hard and win twice as quicker. Harry had to distract him somehow, but what he was going to do, he couldn't fathom.

Harry was about to say some thing, when there was a loud pop and a familiar cry. Harry and the rest looked up to see Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix, apparently standing in mid air. He squawked again and held out his leg. Something, a bag of some sort, fell off and landed a few inches from Harry's feet.

Everything was dead silent.

Harry pointed his Wand at Voldemort and, never taking his eyes off the other wizard bent down to see what Dumbledore had sent him. He rummaged around in the bag and found a piece of paper and what seemed like a solid stick. When Harry pulled them out, a single glance down told him it was a wand.

What he felt when he took the wand firmly in his grip told him that this could have been his own wand. The wand reacted him and by the looks on the faces of the Death Eaters and Voldemort; this was good for Harry and not so good for them.

Stealing a Glance at Voldemort and his waiting Death Eaters and Dementors, who were standing staring at him not moving a single inch, he put the note to the side of his gaze so he could read it.

'_This was your fathers, I feel it is time it is put to use'_

Harry held the wand in his hand and dropped the note on the floor. Harry felt…different with the other wand in his hand. He had never used two wands before, he never even thought about it, or even if you could, but he felt like he knew what he was doing.

"Enough grand standing" Bellatrix Lestrange shouted, she took aim with her wand.

"My lord?" A Death Eater questioned. Harry didn't think he knew the voice. Voldemort held a hand up to silence them.

"Well, Harry, what are we going to do about this? Are you going to come out here and face me like a man? Or will I have to break this silly little shield and come and get you anyway?" Voldemort asked, and he tensed again.

Harry felt the prickling in his scar and some of the confidence faded, but he knew that he might have a chance if the wards stayed and if he had to fight, he had two wands, one of which was his fathers.

"Why should I come out there? You obviously can't get past the wards, and I'm not stupid enough to come out of them" Harry answered.

Voldemort hissed and a few of the Death Eaters stirred, and shouted things like ' How dare he!' and 'he's not safe for much longer'. Harry had that feeling, too. His scar was aching, it felt like a bad migraine or like someone was shoving something blunt against his scar, hard. Then its stopped.

Harry opened the eyes he didn't realise he'd been closing. Voldemort was pacing the shield … wards…what ever was keeping him out, like a caged lion, ready to attack at the first sign of weakness. His evil red eyes were boring into Harry, as though he could find the answer to bring down the protections in Harry's very soul.

Harry was thinking furiously of a way to get out of this, but every idea was as stupid as the next. If he simple went back in to the house, it was only a matter of time before Voldemort broke the wards down. If he ran outside of the wards, they would catch him, no one from the Order could pass Voldemort's barrier, which made Harry think that Dumbledore wasn't there, unless Voldemort had finally outsmarted the Headmaster. Harry shook himself after that thought. He couldn't lose hope, he had to stay focused, he had to think. Dumbledore had sent him his father's wand for a reason, but what was the reason?

Suddenly, Voldemort hit the barrier with an almighty crash of magic, that Harry screamed out and his knees buckled, sending him to the ground, hard. He slammed his hands down to try and take some of the impact off his knees but it didn't work. He groaned at the pain in his knees, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his head, his scar.

"My Lord! It is working!"

Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange shout out, but it was not as loud as it should have been. It was like listening through a barely opened window, and that's when it occurred to Harry, if Voldemort had not cast a spell to silence this noise, what were Harry's muggle neighbours going to make of all this?

The pain receded finally, and Harry bent forward a breathed deeply while he could. Harry had the feeling that Voldemort was going to do this until the wards or shield what ever it was came crashing down, and Harry was barley left alive.

"Don't worry, bity Potter, soon enough you will have the rest, just as soon as my Lord gets what he needs, you will get your rest" Bellatrix shouted to him in a gleeful voice.

Harry gathered him self and waited for Voldemort's next assault up on the barrier. He didn't look up, instead he calmed himself and gathered himself, like a child waiting for the storm to come. Voldemort hit again, but Harry was braced and ready for it this time. Although the pain was there, the shock of it wasn't.

He struggled to his feet, but it was as though a wall was pushing against him. Instead of fighting the wall, he used it to balance him, but that came with a price, a price of pain. Harry felt warm liquid trickle down his face the same moment his scar exploded with pain.

"No!" Was all he could shout out as he pointed the two wands, still clasped tightly in his hands towards Voldemort and the Dementors and Death Eaters.

Harry had no idea of how it happened, but two strobes of light shot out of the wands, one blue and one green. They wound round each other until they hit the barrier that Voldemort was trying so desperately to break down, and expanded to encase Harry in a blue/green light.

Harry's head felt like someone was ripping it in two. His scar has split open, and the blood from it was flowing freely and running down his face. Out of instinct, Harry closed his eyes to stop the blood from getting in his eyes. But still, he held on to the wands.

Faintly he could hear people screaming, but he wasn't sure who it was. Whether it was the Death Eaters, or the residents of Privet Drive, he didn't know, and didn't care. He just wanted the pain to stop, he just wanted to know no more.

After he thought the last, the wands stopped emitting the light and everything went dark again. Harry felt himself losing consciousness, even with his glasses, the edges of his vision was becoming blurry, but not blurry enough not to notice that Voldemort and the Death Eaters had vanished. Harry could see other shapes at the top of Privet Drive but they were too far away to bring into focus.

His scar flared up again, and fresh blood leaked out of the now open wound, as Voldemort took possession of Harry's mind. Harry didn't know if he was physically screaming or whether it was just in his own head, but screaming he was.

"You cannot escape me, forever, Harry. Very soon, you and I will meet and you will not be so lucky"

And with that parting comment, Voldemort fled, leaving Harry to pass out to the sound of sirens coming ever closer from the distance.


	8. Police Protection Or Custody?

Chapter 8

Police Protection or Custody?

"…ink he's coming round" A voice Harry didn't recognise spoke from somewhere above him.

"Detective, this young gentleman has been through a great ordeal, I do not want you asking questions when he first wakes. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave" Another voice Harry didn't recognise came from above him.

As Harry came round more and more, he could feel his body and the aches and pains came to him in full force. His head felt like a heard of hippogriffs had trampled over it, and the rest of his body didn't feel much better either. He groaned and shuffled around in his bed covers.

"He is coming round" The male voice came floating over again.

Harry thought back over what he had just heard, and tried to piece together why he was where he was. Who ever was in the room has mentioned 'Detective' and 'questions' in the same sentence, which gave Harry a bad feeling. Harry thought back more, and the more he tried think, the less he could remember why he was here, and how he had gotten to be here, alone.

He was alone in the muggle world.

Harry shot up in a panic, which sent the machines surrounding him into an uproar of beeps.

Harry took in his surroundings as best he could without his glasses on, and he realised that, he was infact, in a Muggle hospital. He was hooked up to machines by wires that lead from his chest to the beeping machine next to his bed, and he had an IV in his hand. He looked round to find people coming through the door wearing white and navy blue.

"Its ok sweetheart, calm down, your safe" A nurse was saying to him, as others tried to push him back down to the pillows. Everything was blurry and it was making Harry's head hurt even more.

"Are my..' He had to swallow to finish, as his mouth was so dry'.. glasses here?" He asked. His throat was hurting and he couldn't seem to keep his breath.

The nurse, who seemed to have managed to successfully manoeuvre him back down into the pillows, smiled and said;

"There's no need to worry about your glasses dear, you wont need them"

Harry frowned at this and began to get impatient. Why wouldn't he need his glasses?

"Why won't I need my glasses?" He asked no one in particular. But no answer came.

If he didn't have them, then he was effectively blind and his head which was pulsing, would get worse while he tried to squint at things. His frustration seemed to clear his head slightly, and he began to think harder. He changed what he was thinking from, how had he gotten here, to what did he need to do? There was something he needed to do, but he couldn't bring it to the forefront of his mind. What was it he needed to do? His thoughts then fled back to why couldn't he remember how he had come to be here? All he accomplished in doing was making himself feel worse.

The pain in his head grew, and from shooting up to fast, his body felt like it had had a fresh go at being trampled.. The people in the room silenced for a minute and Harry seemed to float out on the pain, his vision fogged even more and he felt himself go limp. As soon as it had happened, he pulled out of it and shot back up again. The noise in the room made his head hurt, too many people were talking at once, which lead to raised voices and more pain for Harry.

One voice above the rest came out clear.

"Son, your going to feel some liquid flow into your hand, then something else which will send it flushing through your body, ok. Its going to make you feel a little sick and then it will make you sleep for a while, ok?"

'_No_' Harry thought ' I_t wasn't ok_'

Before Harry had the chance to answer, they went ahead and did it anyway. With fear and some adrenaline coursing through his body, he woke up slightly. Why where they sending him back to sleep? He didn't want to sleep

"Hang on, I don't need to sleep. Please just hand me my glasses" He asked slightly panicked.

He didn't like hospitals, not muggle ones any way. He much preferred healing by magic.

"You wont need them if you going to sleep" The nurse in blue said again, in a 'silly boy' tone.

"But I don't want to sleep" He told them , feeling more and more agitated and panicked.

As the drug started to take affect, Harry's panic flew into sheer terror. He knew he shouldn't be here, this wasn't where he belonged, he belonged in the wizarding world…at

Hogwarts…with…Dumbledore!

Harry tried more forcefully to get out of the bed, or at least make these people listen, but they were not interested in listening, they were more interested in how a teenage boy, who had been given what amounts to a local anaesthetic, was managing to still be fighting against 4 fully grown adults, one of which was a police Detective.

"You don't…understand! I have… to speak… to Dumbledore!" Harry managed to get out finally.

But his victory was short lived. The drugs the muggle doctors had given him were taking a massive affect, and Harry was finding it harder and harder to fight against the doctors holding him down. Still trying to speak, he was just letting out disconnected words.

"Dumble… need…speak…shouldn't…wand…glasses…Vol"

And with his last thought staying on Voldemort, Harry slipped into a drug induced sleep.

The police man that was in the room at the time looked at the now sleeping child as the nurse flitted around the bed, straightening machines and side tables that had been knocked aside as they had tried to subdue the boy. This boy was supposed to be the one that was nearly killed outside Kings cross station about two weeks ago. He was also supposed to be a wizard.

"Jesus" The Detective muttered, as he sat outside the sleeping child's room, and waited for him to wake.

Harry began to stir again, this time there were no voices, the pain had died down a little, and he knew what he had to do; contact Dumbledore. Although how he was supposed to do that, he hadn't quite figured out yet. Harry listened to the sounds of the room before he moved. If there was anyone in the room, he did not want them noticing he was awake and drugging him again, that he could do without.

When he had waited a while and decided that he was alone, he cautiously opened his eyes and turned his head to the side. From what he could make out with his blurry eye sight, there was a table next to the bed, with, to Harry's giant relief, his glasses resting on top. He reached out and took his glasses and put them on. He hated not to have his glasses on.

Harry pulled himself into a sitting position, and looked round the room. He was alone in the room, which made Harry's heart skip with relief, and the curtains to the window and the one on the door were drawn, so that no one could see in. Another thing that gave Harry some relief.

"Now, how to get out of this" Harry whispered to himself.

He pulled his legs round to the side of the bed and dangled them over the side. He noticed the side table had a little cupboard in it. He opened it gingerly. His clothes were at the bottom, along with his trainers, but no wands. Harry's eyes widened. He didn't like to be without his wand in the wizarding, let alone in the muggle world, especially while Voldemort was at his highest point of power. Where on earth had they put them?

He sighed forcefully and pulled his hands up to his face. As he pulled his left hand, he felt a sharp pain and noticed that he had the IV in his hand still.

"Bugger" He whispered forcefully.

The door opened, and Harry looked up to find a very shocked looking man in a suit, that Harry had never seen before, standing in the doorway.

He and Harry locked gazes, neither sure what to do. Lucky for Harry, the man shook himself and walked into the room, with a forced smile on his face. Harry leaned back as the man drew nearer the bed. This made Harry feel nervous.

"Have you just woken up" The man asked him.

He had a deepish voice that didn't really match his face. He was a tall man, with brown longish hair. He couldn't have been older than 35, and he was quite built. All in all, the man was as normal looking as could be, and was most definitely a Muggle.

"Son? Are you ok?" He asked, standing at the side of Harry's bed, with his hands in his trouser pockets.

"I'm fine, and yes I've just woken up, and I also want to know when I can go?" His voice didn't come out nearly as strong as he would have liked, but at least he held the mans gaze.

The man nodded his head and walked over to one of the plastic chairs in the room then dragged it over next to Harry's bed and sat down. Harry was sitting on the bed with one leg tucked under the other, wearing a hospital gown, not one of his finest moment, but he was ready to jump off the bed if need be.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" The man asked. Harry opened his mouth to answer when the man cut across him and carried on any way.

"Good, well first, I'm Detective Sol, and you, if I'm not much mistaken, are Harry Potter?"

Harry looked up at the mention of the word 'Detective', realising there had been a detective in the room when he had woken the first time. The bit that really shocked him was that he knew Harry's name.

Harry nodded in response,

"Well Harry, can you tell me what you remember?" The detective asked, taking out a little note pad and pen. He had started to write before Harry had even spoken.

Harry knew he had to be careful what to tell this man. Harry had never even been in close contact with a muggle police officer, due to the fact he had spent most of his teenage years away at Hogwarts. Finally he settled on playing thick.

"I can't remember that much to be honest, sir" Harry told him.

The officer smiled. "Call me Sol, Harry" Harry nodded in response.

"Well, can you tell me who Dumbledore is, Harry?"

Harry's heart sped up, and thanks to the heart monitor that he was attached to, Sol knew too. Harry looked at the monitor and willed it with all his heart, no pun intended, to shut up, stop giving away his shock at the Officer knowing who Dumbledore was. Sol had followed Harry's gaze to the heart monitor, but now his gaze was settled back on Harry.

"Come on, Harry, you can tell me. Is this person 'Dumbledore' threatening you? Is Dumbledore part of the people who attacked you? If you need help, we can help you"

Sol finished off. The officer had his hands on Harry's bed, and he would not drop his gaze from Harry's. Then he walked over to the empty chair next to the bed and sat down.

"No that wasn't Dumbledore" Harry told him shortly, with out really answering the man questions at all.

Sol looked as if he was getting tired of Harry's forceful blindness to the matter at hand, but he decided to try one more question on the teenager.

"Where is your family Harry?" Sol asked, in a quite forced tone, that was meant to be none threatening.

"At home, I think" Harry didn't know why, but he didn't want to admit to this man where he lived.

Suddenly the man rose from his seat and walked to shut the door. This made Harry's heart speed up even more, and still attached to the heart machine, the man knew he was making Harry nervous. He turned round and looked at Harry and Harry half expected him to turn into a Death Eater there and then, but he didn't.

"I'm not here to hurt you, infact, I'm doing my best to try and keep you safe. We have police officers at the entrance to the ward and there is open sitting outside your door. I'm not your enemy Harry" The man finished off, giving Harry what he thought was meant to be innocent eyes.

Harry didn't say anything, he just sat and looked at the officer. He didn't know if he could trust the man at all, he had only just met him. What he did know was that he needed to get in contact with someone from the wizarding world.

The officer sighed.

"Well maybe you will explain these to me" And he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out

Harry's and his fathers and.

Perfect, Harry thought.

"You were holding these when I arrived outside your Aunt and Uncles house. Now, I have not been to the moon these past few weeks, I know what has been happening about 'wizards' and 'witches' being real, I know about the attack outside Kings Cross, I saw the damage and I saw the security footage. And I saw you on that security footage. It was you who these people giving interviews about a 'magical' world, have been describing, and last but not least, it was you and the same man on the Kings Cross footage who were fighting two nights ago. I'm no fool, now, Harry, what is going on?"

Harry just stared straight at the ceiling, not knowing what to say or do. Where the hell was everyone? Where was Dumbledore? Were they just going to leave him here to make his own excuses? What was he going to say?

"I have all day, Harry" Detective Sol told him.

"There isn't much I can tell you" Harry said finally.

"Well what can you tell me?"

"Yes that was me outside Kings Cross, yes it was me they have been describing" He finished.

Harry didn't want to say anything, but he didn't want to bring too much attention to himself. If they arrested him or anything like that, it would be all over the news. He couldn't afford to be publicised while alone in the muggle world, not with Voldemort after him.

Harry thought back to…when ever it was the fight had happened. What had they meant when they said 'when he gets what he wants from you?' Bellatrix had taken joy in telling him he was going to get rest, the eternal kind Harry knew she meant, after Voldemort had gotten out of him what he wanted. The thought then came to Harry that it was probably the wording of the Prophecy. There was now no more records of it, other than Dumbledore's Pensive and obviously Harry and Dumbledore himself.

It had also just occurred to Harry that none of the Death Eaters or even Voldemort himself had sent a killing curse at Harry. What did they want from him then? Harry knew one thing, he no more wanted to be in Voldemort's clutches than he wanted to die.

"Who was that…man then, Harry? The one who has now attacked you twice. Is that Dumbledore?" Sol asked.

Harry shook his head. "No that wasn't Dumbledore" Harry said, sounding tired and beaten.

"C'mon, Harry you called out this person's name earlier today. Who is Dumbledore?"

The door opened softly. "I am Dumbledore"

Sorry for the cliffy - shoudln't take me too long to update! hope you enjoyed and thankyou to everyone who reviews! its great to get the opinions!


	9. A Little Bit More Truth

Chapter 9

A Few More Home Truths

Both Harry and the Detective jumped at hearing a new voice enter the room. Detective Sol stood up and faced Dumbledore, putting his hands on his hips. Harry didn't think he'd ever been as happy to see Dumbledore as he was at that very moment. Harry let out a sigh of relief which must have been louder than he realised, as the detective turned round to look at him. Harry gave him his best innocent look. He could see Dumbledore's twinkling smile, and that smile in itself made Harry feel one thousand times better.

The one thing that made Harry want to laugh was Dumbledore was still wearing his wizard attire, which consisted of green velvet robes and matching cloak, fastened at the shoulders. Harry couldn't imagine Dumbledore in muggle clothing, to him it would just be too strange.

Dumbledore looked at Harry and gave him a smile and a wink before turning to the police office in front of him.

"I do not think we have been introduced, Detective Sol. I am Dumbledore, Harry's acting guardian" Dumbledore came further into the room, and stretched out his hand.

The Detective looked slightly puzzled by Dumbledore, but took his hand anyway. Dumbledore then rounded on Harry and walked over to the bed where the agitated teenage was sitting.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, sitting on the bed next to Harry.

"I'm feeling fine, sir, when can I get out of here" Harry asked.

Harry had never been in a muggle hospital, but they made him nervous. He preferred the infirmary at Hogwarts with its other worldly look, its rickety beds and under the care of Madam Pomfrey. The machines and needles were things he wasn't used to anymore.

"I'm sorry, Mr Dumbledore, but what are you doing in here, no one is aloud in this room without my permission. Why did the officer let you in?' Detective Sol asked.

Harry noticed with slight worry that his hand was moving closer to the asp which was hanging from a belt holster at his side. Harry wasn't sure if Dumbledore had noticed or not as he was still sitting on Harry's bed with his smile on his face.

"I believe I explained that I am Harry's acting guardian" Dumbledore said shortly, his smile still playing on his face. Harry thought that if you were angry, that soft slightly amused smile must be annoying.

"I don't believe you've shown me any proof that you are what you say you are. Now this boy is under police guard and I want to know how you got in this room without authorization from me"

The Detective finished, his arms crossed over his chest.

Harry felt crest fallen. This man wanted to see proof, on paper, that Dumbledore was who he was claiming to be. Harry knew full well that there was no proof. What could Dumbledore say? 'I am his Headmaster at the Wizarding school he attends' Harry didn't think that would work, but his great surprise, Dumbledore stood up and pulled out a piece of paper from one of his robe pockets and handed it to the shocked looking Detective.

Detective Sol read over the paper several times before giving in and admitting that he was seeing was an official document. He coughed nervously into his hand and said, handing back the piece of paper;

"Well this seems to be in order, now maybe you can explain to me what is going on here? I have a very frightened nation out there and its my inkling that your young charge has got something to do with it. He admitted that it was he who was attacked out side of Kings Cross!" The police officer was getting mad.

Dumbledore was still sitting calm, as he folded up the piece of paper and placed it back inside his inner robe pocket. Dumbledore spoke and acted as though this conversation didn't include the exposure of the wizarding world, but without the smile on his face. Harry sat looking between the two adults wondering who would prevail. Harry was worried, he had never been in contact with the police, but he knew that if Detective Sol pushed, he could make things awkward, especially since Harry wasn't even eighteen. Seventeen might be the coming of age for wizards, but for muggles it was not, and Harry was in effect, stuck in the muggle world.

"Detective, I would like a moment with my Godson" Dumbledore asked lightly.

'Godson'? since when was Dumbledore Harry's Godfather? Harry tried not to show his amazement, as the Detective would find it suspicious, but it was hard. 'Is no one ever going to tell me the whole story?' Harry mused to himself.

The police office was breathing heavily, and Harry could see the conflict in his eyes. Harry had no idea how it must feel for him to be on the verge of a true confession of an ulterior world existing. Well, he did but that happened a long time ago and everything had turned out for the best for him, the rest of the muggle population wasn't to know that.

The officer sighed and bowed his head, but he was still tapping his foot in either slight anger or agitation. Finally he looked up and when he did he seemed calmer, or less angry at least.

"Ok, but he goes nowhere until I have questioned him properly" He said turning round and going for the door handle.

"Why do you need to question Harry? Is he under suspicion?' Dumbledore asked quietly.

Sol turned round from the door.

"At the moment, everyone who isn't me is under suspicion. I have no idea if this is a hoax, some sort of an elaborate scam, or if there truly are wizards in existence, I don't know. But it's my job to find out what this situation is and how dangerous it is to the people of Britain"

And with that parting comment, he walked out and shut the door heavily behind him. He sighed a very deep sigh of relief and went to get out of bed again. And yet again he felt the shooting pain in his hand where the IV was in him.

"For God's sake!" He all but shouted.

He took hold of the IV and ripped it out of his hand. The pain that followed was something out of this world. He felt liked he'd just had a vein ripped out of his hand. Harry clasped the now wound, with his other hand wand was breathing very hard, when Dumbledore appeared at his side with a square of the material used to put over wounds.

"Let me see Harry"

Dumbledore said, manoeuvring Harry back to the bed to sit down. Harry did as instructed. The blood was pouring from the wound. Harry had done the stupid thing of pull upwards in stead of sliding it out. This resulted in a deep line running over his hand a wrist. Harry had just noticed it was the hand where Umbridge's quill had scared him with the words 'I must not tell lies'.

When Harry took his hand away, Dumbledore looked at the words and the put the bandage over the cut. Dumbledore shook his head as he applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

"You truly have been through the mill, haven't you?" Dumbledore said softly.

Harry didn't answer. He didn't even think he had answer, or the energy to think of one. The adrenalin fuelled by his situation and Dumbledore's appearance had died down now to leave him feeling tired. Harry actually had a question of his own.

"Professor" He said barely above a whisper. The Headmaster turned to face him. He cleared his throat, not liking sounding so beaten.

"That's not true about you being…being my…"

"Godfather" He finished for him.

Harry nodded. Dumbledore sighed and smiled at Harry. Then he reached into his robes and pulled out his wand. He whispered a silencing charm around the room, and a deflecting shield on the door. Harry supposed this was to deter the police bursting into the room while they were talking about their world.

Dumbledore then took the bandage away from Harry's hand to examine the wound. It was deep and every time Dumbledore wiped the blood away, more would come pouring. Harry looked away. The pain and the sight of the wound was making him feel slightly sick. Blood had never bothered him, he had bled enough times himself to know that, but he had never sat and watched himself bleed.

Harry heard Dumbledore whisper something, and the tip of his wand touched Harry's hand, near the wound. The pain was gone and as Harry looked round at his hand, the wound was getting smaller and the blood was stopping flowing out of his body.

"Thanks" Harry muttered, without looking at his Headmaster.

Dumbledore looked at Harry and smiled, but it didn't make his blue eyes twinkle, like Dumbledore's usual smiles.

"Sirius' Harry flinched slightly at the name. "Sirius left it in his will that if anything were to happen to him, myself and Remus Lupin would take over guard of you. This means nothing by Muggle standards, of course, so I had to make official with a slight bit of magic" And he showed the first real smile Harry had seen on his face in a long time, as he again, reached into his robe pocket and brought out a piece of plain normal muggle paper.

Harry couldn't help but smile back. Harry didn't really want to know what had happened, but this news was a bit of a shock. Dumbledore and Remus as his guardians. Remus Harry could understand, as he was a marauder, part of his dad's inner circle of friends. But then again, from what Harry had heard from Dumbledore say in the past ' I knew you father very well, both at Hogwarts and later', it sounded like they were quite close also. Harry's dad was, after all, one of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix. It was just something Harry couldn't accept in 2 minutes, that Harry now had different guardians, that he was the reason he had to have different guardians.

Harry had had enough. In that moment, the past five years of his life cam flushing past his eyes, each horrible moment as clear as the next. Quirrell with Voldemort's twisted, horrifying face on the back of his head, with his gleaming red eyes. The Basilisk petrifying his school friends, everyone thinking he was Salazar Slytherin's heir, fighting Tom Riddle and the Basilisk, Learning about Sirius being his Godfather, while thinking him a mass murderer, finding out the real truth of his parents best friends betrayal, fighting the Dementors.

Having his name put in the Goblet of Fire, having to complete all of the Tri Wizard tasks thinking someone wanted to kill him when it was really a mad man posing as his teacher trying to help him get through the tasks! Seeing Voldemort rising from that cauldron while he was tied helpless and wandless! Having everyone thinking he was nuts for telling the truth! And the dreams, the endless nights of dreams, seeing different things not knowing what was real and what wasn't and then finally, the loss of Sirius. Sirius… his brother, father, uncle and best friend all in one.

It was too much for anyone to bare, and he had had enough! What he had said to Dumbledore when he had trashed his office had been true. He wanted out of seeing things no one else was seeing, having to do things no one else was having to do, to hear and… and know things he never wanted to know.

All that he was feeling eventually bubbled up and came spilling out of his mouth in a bone wrenching scream of agony, anger and complete dismay. He leapt from the bed, and instead of destroying the hospital room, he began to beat his fists against the wall, not giving a thought to his newly healed hand.

It felt good, to get all of this anger out, it felt good, but it also gave the one person Harry blamed for all of this an opening into his mind. Voldemort flared up through his senses and took control. Harry let out an malevolent laugh and turned to face Dumbledore. Dumbledore, who didn't look fazed by this, moved and in an instant had pulled Harry and pinned to the bed while he was still laughing.

Harry barley had time to be amazed at Dumbledore's strength, of the old wizard being able to hold him down, when Voldemort laughed again and Harry's scar began to feel as though it was reopening, along with the rest of his head.

"Fight him Harry, you can get rid of him, you know who you are. Use that force which you possess so greatly to push him out of your mind" Dumbledore hissed into Harry's face.

Voldemort laughed and it sounded wrong, coming out of Harry's mouth. The sensation was like burning oil being poured through him, and as much as he wanted to scream, he couldn't. He just wanted to die. He wanted the fighting, the pain and the endless void of loss to end.

"He cannot win this time, Dumbledore, the boy is mine!" An evil cold voice filtered out through Harry's mouth, with his own voice.

"Think Harry, think! You know who you are and you know where you are!"

Dumbledore said again, this time through gritted teeth as he tried to keep the now struggling teenager pinned to the bed. The old wizard had some strength in him, which surprised Voldemort and gave Harry a momentary gap he needed to think straight, and when he did, he thought of his parents and Sirius, basically he thought of love, of the people he loved.

And then he was gone. Voldemort fled, leaving Harry with a splitting head ach and an aching body from where he had struggled to get free but had been thwarted by Dumbledore. His new Godfather.

"Harry?" Dumbledore whispered, leaning off Harry a little.

With that, Harry burst into tears. He never cried, it wasn't that he thought it was weak, he didn't really think anything about crying, he just never did. But in this moment, in this moment it was all he could do not to go mad again. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and leaned against the metal headboard on the hospital bed. Harry folded his arms around his drawn up legs and cried into his knees, giving great racketing sobs.

He felt the bed move and then a moment later, the bed moved again as Dumbledore sat next to Harry. The was a single second before Harry realised he was being hugged. Dumbledore placed his arms around Harry and pulled him close, like a grandfather…one that Harry had never had. Harry let himself be held as he cried out his innermost desperation and anguish.

Dumbledore never shushed him, never moved or made a noise, he just let the tired teenage cry himself into a deep sleep in his arms, all the time making a promise to himself, to Harry to the very heavens above that he would do all in his power to protect this boy, that he would no longer have to go through what he had been going through year after year, for the past five years.

"I promise you, my boy, I will be there every step of the way from now on"

And with that he manoeuvred Harry's body back into the bed covers. After he had wiped his face and placed the cool flannel on his forehead. Dumbledore sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair and stared, daring anyone dare challenge him that moment, daring the very world itself to leave the boy alone, for a peaceful sleep, for once


	10. Questions and Answers

**Chapter 10 **

**Questions and Answers **

Harry started to stir. He had no idea of the time or how long he'd been asleep, but the one thing he did remember was how he had gotten to sleep and he felt a little ashamed, but… better. Harry knew he had a temper, but he couldn't believe he'd done that. Only once before had he ever done anything like that, and that too had been in the sole company of Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore, his new guardian alongside Remus. Harry couldn't think too deeply into it or he would probably start again. He finally opened his eyes and took in the room, yet again. He was indeed in the same room he had woken up in Merlin knew how long ago. This time though, Dumbledore was sleeping in the chair next to Harry's bed. Harry looked at him once and decided not to wake him yet even thought he wanted to get dressed and get out of here.

He threw the covers off him self and grabbed his clothes. As he got dressed, wondering how his clothes had got through intact, Harry thought over things. What was going to happen now? He had confessed to everything to the officer in his temper. He had told them he was the one who was attacked, that it was him that Voldemort was chasing after. Harry wasn't sure how much Dumbledore could do. If he erased his memory, would it do any good? The whole of Britain and Europe probably knew what was going on, so everywhere would be on the alert.

He just wanted to run, wanted to get away from the press and their prying. He wanted to be back at Hogwarts getting ready for a game of Quiditch, doing homework in the common room with his two best friends, not being stuck in the muggle world where he had hardly any protection. Voldemort could find him at any point.

Harry stopped. How had Voldemort found Harry? Harry was supposed to be safe from him while he was at the Dursley's, the protection his mother gave him, although Voldemort had it now too, it was supposed to protect him from Voldemort. Harry made a mental note to ask Dumbledore, while he was sliding on his shoes..

Harry turned around after tying his shoe laces up, Dumbledore was sat wide awake staring at Harry. He smiled when he saw Harry. Harry returned the smile sitting back on the bed again.

"How are you feeling now, Harry?" His Headmaster asked.

Harry thought about the question before answering his usual 'I'm fine'. He knew he wasn't ok, but physically he felt fine now. Letting out everything…. seemed to have helped him great deal.

"I feel better, actually" He answered. Then he thought of his question.

"Professor, how did Voldemort find me? I thought I was supposed to be protected while I was at the Dursley's. Doesn't that work any more?" He asked.

Dumbledore sat and seemed to be thinking about the question before answering his new young charge. He turned and looked at Harry with a small frown on his face

"Could he actually touch you, Harry? Was he actually on your family's property?"

Harry thought about the question. Harry remembered the Death Eaters and Dementors and Voldemort, and how they had stayed… at the top of the drive. They hadn't technically stepped foot on the Dursley's property. They hadn't been able to, there was a barrier stopping them from entering the Dursley's grounds. Fawkes had managed to stand on the barrier and drop his father's wand through to him. Yet another question for him to ask.

Then Harry thought of something else. Normally the Dementors affected him worse than they had that night. He hadn't thought about it then as he'd had other things to think about, but he had only felt them when they had turned up, when it got colder…

"No… they didn't they all stayed at the top of the drive. Voldemort, the Death Eaters, the

Dementors all of them. Something was blocking them, a barrier…ward, I'm not sure but they couldn't come any closer than the top of the drive. Voldemort hit what ever it was a it hurt me, but other than that…" Harry trailed off.

Dumbledore nodded regarding Harry, or maybe he wasn't. Harry had stopped trying to decipher Dumbledore and what his actions meant. The he spoke up.

"It is my belief that it was the muggle media that lead Voldemort to you" He said finally.

Harry frowned. How could they have done that? Then he remembered the press turning up at his door after all of the interviews and the description of him being announced. Dumbledore followed Harry's train of thought, obviously thinking the same as Harry.

"Yes, Voldemort used the people he hates so much to find the person he hates so much, sort of ironic, really. Voldemort bid his Death Eater to go to the muggle press and release an interview, knowing that now everyone believes you, people would stick up for you. Someone would undoubtedly describe you, or have a photo of you ready for showing what a hero you are to our world, they would have gladly shown you are not who Voldemort's followers described you to be"

The Old Professor paused, regarding Harry over the top of his half moon glass.

"After the footage of the train station fight, one or more of your neighbours must have recognised you as the one being targeted, put two and two together and phoned the media. They arrive and show where you live, all Voldemort has to do is wait for the muggles to show where you live and he can then find you. A brilliant and simple plan, one I admit, I had not foresaw. I seem to be missing a lot lately" Dumbledore finished, lowering his head to stare at his laced fingers.

Harry processed the information and it all made sense. Voldemort wouldn't have been able to find Harry because of all the protections of magic, so he had used a muggle method. Harry could see the irony, and would have laughed had it not been him nearly killed again.

"But why do that? Why go to all that trouble just to find where I lived? He's exposed himself to the muggle world, so they're wise to him now. Isn't this going to cause him just as much damage as it will us?" Harry asked frowning.

"There are two reasons I believe he did this. One, I do not believe he cares anymore. He believes he will win this war, he believes muggles are not a force to be reckoned with, so why should he worry about the repercussions of his acts"

Dumbledore smiled at Harry, then continued.

"The second and the one I know to be true, is that he couldn't never find out where you lived unless someone actually pointed to your house and told him that you lived there. As hardly anyone in the wizarding world knows where you live, I didn't think it would be a problem. Again, I was mistaken, the one thing I did not see happening was reporters crowding round your front door and letting all the nation know where you lived"

The one thing that struck Harry as being funny was the people Voldemort hated most, were the people making his life easier, and the very same people who Harry was supposed to be saving, were making his life extremely difficult. He left out a sigh and looked at the wizened old wizard sitting in the chair staring at Harry, as though he were his grandson. He just couldn't believe that Dumbledore was now official his guardian! To quickly get off that subject he changed his thought path completely, to a more sombre thought…

"How are the Dursley's"

Harry asked barely caring, but still feeling guilty and responsible.

Dumbledore chuckled slightly.

"They are fine. They knew nothing had happened until the police turned up at their door asking them to identify you. It was lucky I was there, otherwise they may not have claimed to know you" Dumbledore smiled.

Harry was glad he found it funny, he didn't. Harry looked away. He couldn't believe they could be so…malicious, still he didn't care, he would be going to his real home soon enough. Then another thought occurred to him.

"Where were you that night? Where were the Order?" Harry asked, looking at Dumbledore, sounding forsaken. Then he remembered the barrier Voldemort had said he'd erected to keep them all out, but Harry let the question hang in the air.

"We had gained knowledge that Voldemort had found your residence. The Order sent Fawkes to me to tell me what had happened. I unfortunately was in France at the time, and could not get back swiftly enough. The Barrier Voldemort had erected was powerful enough to keep the Order out"

Dumbledore sighed, then smiled slightly.

"When I arrived, the police and ambulance were already there and you were about to be shipped off to hospital. I thought it best to leave you where you were, for if I had sprung you from the ambulance, there would probably have a been a kidnap conspiracy to go along with the assassination attempt"

Harry smiled, it sounded like something the press would do. Harry had lived in the muggle world long enough to here some of the things muggles could come up with. There was just one last question Harry wanted, no, needed answered.

"Sir, why did you send me…"

"…Your father's wand" Dumbledore finished off for him. He nodded.

"A thought occurred to me over the summer. Sirius has left me in charge of sorting out what needs to be sorted out" Dumbledore stopped and looked at Harry, checking he was ok, Harry thought. Obviously satisfied Harry wasn't going to go banana's again, he continued.

"That included all of his possessions, which happened to include your fathers wand. I have no idea how Sirius got your fathers wand, or why he did have it, but my assumption is that he explained all of this in the letter he wants you and only you to read" Dumbledore finished.

Harry sat in silence. He hadn't thought about what would happen to all of his possessions, now that Sirius was… It was something he didn't want to think about. And a letter only he wanted Harry to read? Harry pushed it aside for later to let Dumbledore finish his explanation.

"I 'm not sure if your aware, but yours and your father's wand contain the same core, a phoenix feather"

Harry frowned.

"But, its mine and Voldemort's wand which share cores from the same phoenix" Harry said, half asking, half telling.

But Dumbledore was nodding.

"I know that, I meant to say that your wands both have a phoenix feather for its core, not that they are from the same phoenix. Any way, your father's wand, I had a theory that as the cores are the same, and phoenix cores seem to respond to you, that your father's wand might work for you. And that it also might do more, it might enhance your power and protection"

Dumbledore stared at Harry and Harry stared back. It made sense, and it had obviously worked, or at least done something. Dumbledore was carrying on.

"Your father died to protect you, Harry, like your mother. It is my belief that with this with your father's wand, your protection might once again be at full strength"

With all of his questions finally answered, one solitary thought clouded his mind now. Out. He wanted out of the hospital. As if reading his mind, Dumbledore smiled.

"Things are being arranged as we speak to have you released today. I have spoken to the doctor and as soon as he has checked you over you are free to go, though getting past that police officer might not prove so easy" Dumbledore said beginning to frown.

"Couldn't you just Obliviate him?" Harry asked.

"That would be the easy option, but then it would seem suspicious that he has no knowledge of you being here, yet his superiors do. Even if I plant something in his memory, the will need a written statement from you…do not worry, Harry we will cross that bridge when we get to it" Dumbledore told him beginning to stand up.

As Dumbledore stood, the door opened with and Detective Sol walked in with an evil grin on his face. Harry's heart sped up.

"You should be careful about who, what, and where you talk about things" He said standing in front of the door, with two uniformed officers behind him.

"Now I've really had enough. I want you both down to the police station, and your lucky I'm not placing you under arrest. Obliviate, Death Eaters, Voldemort, Muggles ? I think you have got some explaining to do" He finished.


	11. Finally Feeling Home

**Hello I hope you all enjoy the story - would like to say thankyou to everyone who reviewed before and now that I am writing the story again. I hoppe you all enjoyed the last book, or are still enjoying the book. **

I am in need of a beta, who can help me work through some sotory issues - if anyone is interested please let me know!

Enjoy

**Chapter 11**

**Finally Feeling Home**

Detective Sol continued to stand in the door way with a smug expression on his face. He walked a little further into the room and closed the door. As Detective sol turned around, Dumbledore held up his hand and Harry could feel the air in the room thicken. Detective Sol's face became blank, his eyes glazed over and he stood. The temperature in the room seem to drop just a touch and Harry felt goose pimples rise on his arms and the back of his neck. He knew that Dumbledore was about to use very powerful magic, even having no wand in his hand. Harry made no sound and no movement as he didn't want to break Dumbledore's concentration.

The door opened again and Harry's heart leapt, they were about to be discovered. Two uniformed officers stood in the door way and, after a long moment, their eyes glazed over, and they too fell under Dumbledore's spell. Harry had the strangest feeling that they had been called from outside the room in the first place.

All three of them stood in the doorway, un moving, unblinking, and not breathing much by the looks of things, Harry thought to himself. Then Dumbledore began to speak.

"You do not need to be here. You have questioned Harry and have determined that he is not the child you seek. You do not suspect myself, Albus Dumbledore or Harry Potter of any wrong doing or witch craft, and you never heard any words come from this room. You are going to leave now as Harry is being discharged"

Harry couldn't take his off the men standing in the door way! He couldn't believe the magic Dumbledore was capable of.

Dumbledore calling his name brought him back to himself.

"Harry get back into the bed, sit up and don't say anything" He muttered quietly. Harry did as he was told.

The two uniformed officers left the room, still in an almost zombified state, but the main problem, Detective Sol, remained. It appeared Dumbledore was not quite finished with him.

"Detective Sol, you do not suspect either myself or Harry Potter of anything. Harry is here because he had a bad fall from his bedroom window early this morning. He is not the child you seek. You will go back to your superiors and explain that this boy is to be left alone, as all the stories about him are false leads"

Detective Sol gave one long blink as Dumbledore finished modifying his memory. Dumbledore stood and walked over to the Police man with his other hand outstretched.

"I would like you to put what ever recording devise you have on you in my hand"

Detective Sol put his hand into this trouser pocket and pulled out a small, silver dictaphone, that was currently making a whirling noise, indicating it was recording everything that was being said. Sol handed it over to Dumbledore, who took the machine in to his own hand, tapped it with the tip of his wand and muttered 'Ceresium'

There was clicking sound and the machine ceased to whirl and the record light went out.

Dumbledore put the Dictaphone back into Detective Sol's pocket and stepped backwards and sat down on the chair he had fallen asleep in.

"I now want you to turn around 360° and face me" Dumbledore muttered.

Suddenly the air in the room became thinner and the heated back to a normal temperature. The Detective blinked a couple of times and frowned. Dumbledore turned his head to one side.

"Are you quite alright there, detective? I had asked you a question"

Harry wanted to laugh at the innocence in Dumbledore's voice, but decided to do nothing until his Professor addressed him. Harry began to wonder that what ever Dumbledore had done had worked too well, as the Detective was still frowning.

"Detective?" Dumbledore repeated.

"Er… No I haven't spoken to the Doctor yet but I can't see there's going to be any problems. Seems we've been getting quite a few false leads lately" The Detective still seemed a little out of it as he turned to Harry to speak to him.

"Take it easy in the future. Your lucky you weren't hurt far worse"

Harry nodded, not knowing what to, or if to say anything.

With a parting nod to Dumbledore, the Detective walked out of the room, with out looking back.

Harry let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, while a hundred questions flitted through his head. He turned to face Dumbledore, who was smiling pleasantly.

"What was that, professor?" Harry asked, thickly.

The Headmaster shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh just a little something I thought of myself. Ingenious , eh?" He asked Harry winking.

Harry smiled and climbed out of bed again.

The door opened again and Harry's heart rate sped up as he turned to see who it was. The nurse who had been in Harry's room when he'd first woken stepped in with a smile that Harry didn't return

"Your free to go then, Just take things easy, and make sure you eat. You're a little under weight"

Harry was rather surprised by this news. He had never thought himself under weight, he had always eaten enough when he was hungry, he never been that under weight while he had been living permanently with the Dursley's, no one had eve commented on it his weight except for Mrs Weasley

He looked over to Dumbledore, who was smiling slightly.

"We'll have to get you to Molly. I'm sure she can remedy that!" He said with a bright smile.

Harry smiled back. He dreaded to think of what Mrs Weasley would say if she heard that he was under weight.

"Come then Harry, I don't think we need to take up any more of these fine people's time, and I know your friends can not wait to see for themselves that you are ok"

Harry nodded and the nurse smiled at him as she walked to the door and walked out. He had a sudden thought and frowned.

"Professor, how are we getting to the Burrow?"

Dumbledore's smile faltered slightly.

"We are going to Grimauld place, Harry. As you are now the owner of Grimauld Place, it will only open itself to you. Unless of course, you decide that you no longer want us to use it as head quarters?" Dumbledore asked.

He didn't sound accusing, but Harry knew that for him to deny the use of Sirius's house to the Order, would be a great loss to them. It was a place that no one else could find and they could come and go as they pleased. But he really wasn't ready to be inside that house. He didn't want to be surrounded by everything that once belong to the godfather he had helped to…kill.

Harry sighed, and it was the sigh of a defeated person, one who knew he had no other options. He would have to go back there sooner or later, but he would have rather it been later, than this soon.

Harry got out of bed to Find Dumbledore already by his side. The headmaster placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, his eyes were twinkling with something Harry couldn't place.

"I know you do not wish to go back there, but sooner or later, you will have to face everything. Sirius left everything to you. You do not have to sort it all out' Dumbledore said quickly at Harry's intake of breath

'Someone else has already seen to that. We do how ever need you there to get us back into our Headquarters. Whether to clear it out or resume is entirely up to you"

Harry nodded. "You can use it. I don't want it, so it may as well go to some use. Sir… He would of wanted you to carry on using it"

Dumbledore smiled at him

"Very well, and thank you. So let us leave this place, I do not like to admit, but hospital's do seem to give me the chills"

Harry smiled and the pair of the walked out of the hospital into the dark of the night. Dumbledore's hand never left Harry's shoulder, even as they walked a little way away from the building, turned a corner and disappeared, much to the shock of a uniformed police officer.


	12. Coming to Grimmauld Place

**Chapter 12**

**Coming to Grimmauld Place**

Harry felt that horrible pull behind his navel, as he was transported from the ally next to the hospital, to a house on a street he had never wanted to see again. The street its self seemed in better repair than the last time Harry had been here. Some of the windows on the houses were still broken, the doors and window frames still had pint peeling off them, but there was not rubbish on the steps any more and mostly, where there was a broken window, it had been boarded up.

Harry then looked in front of him, to the spot between eleven and thirteen, where twelve would appear as soon as Dumbledore told him it was there.

Dumbledore reached into his pocket and pulled out the light-putter-out thing. Harry had no idea what it was called, but he knew that when opened, if you pointed it in the general direction of a light and clicked the button, it would…collect the lights and store it, until you released them.

Dumbledore turned and face the first lamppost in the square, lifted the light-putter-out towards it and click. The lamppost light died and flew into the putter-out. He followed this process, turning and pointing to each lamppost in the square, clicking and storing the light each time. Within a minute, all of the lamppost were out, and the only light left in the square, was coming from a bed room in number nine and the front door light from number ten.

Dumbledore then whispered 'Lumos', and the tip of his wand lit up.

"Harry?"

Dumbledore was using a very careful voice. Harry sighed. He didn't want people to be careful around him. That would just wind him up more. He wanted to be treated like he normally was, and he hoped his friends would. He didn't think he could take them tip toeing around him.

"Here you are, Harry" Dumbledore said. His hand still had not left Harry's shoulder.

Harry took the piece of parchment, and Dumbledore put his wand over Harry's shoulder, so that he could read exactly the same words as he did about 12 months ago;

_The Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix may be found at numbertwelve, Grimmauld Place, London._

Harry looked back up to find the door to number twelve, where it should be and as he watched, the walls, windows and the grimy curtains which where hung up at all of the windows in the house, appear between number eleven and thirteen.

Harry had a sudden thought and he looked round to his professor, who was about to walk up to the house.

"Professor?" Harry asked, still holding the parchment in the hands.

Dumbledore stopped and turned to face Harry.

"Yes Harry?"

"Professor, if the house will only open itself to me, how come your still the secret keeper?" Harry asked Dumbledore, genuinely interested.

"You, Harry, are needed to physically open the house. It will not open until you open the door with the key. Only you can do that. I am simply the secret keeper of the…" Dumbledore seemed to be struggling to find the right word

"Address?" Harry offered, as they started to make their way towards the house.

Dumbledore smiled at Harry and stopped, to lean against the barrier leading up to the house, which one foot on a step.

"Yes, for lack of a better word. You either have to read or hear the address from me, before the house will reveal itself to you"

Dumbledore then reached into his inner robe pocket again for the putter-out and released the lights, which flew back into the lampposts, illuminating the square once more. Dumbledore whispered 'Nox' and his wand went out.

They carried on up the steps to the front door.

"Here, Harry, is the key to your house"

Dumbledore held his hand out to Harry, and resting on his palm was a very old looking key. It was black and the handle of the key had the black family crest embossed on it in green. Harry took the key from Dumbledore and turned towards the door. Harry let a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding as he took the last small steps towards the front door.

Harry slid the key into the lock and turned. As he turned the key, a jolt of…magic shot up his arm. It didn't hurt, but it was powerful, and made him gasp. Harry took the key out and the door opened of its own accord.

Harry didn't quite know what to expect when he looked into the familiar corridor. It wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be, still memories of Sirius flooded him. How he had run out of the dinning room, to battle the curtain that hid Mrs Black's portrait. Waking down the stairs into the kitchen with his smiling, healthy looking god father next to him. Harry simply couldn't explain how he felt, but this place seemed to feel more like a home than the Dursley's ever had, probably for the fact he could look back to some fond memories here, but nowhere would ever feel more like home than Hogwarts.

Harry walked over the threshold of the house, and noted at how cold it felt. It was obvious no one had been in the building for a while. The air was stagnant, and there was a fine layer of dust covering everything.

Suddenly, the lights that lined the main corridor walls, lit up of their own accord. Or so it had seemed. Dumbledore was standing behind him with his want out.

"Light, and a little cleaning, should make it the place feel less…" Dumbledore didn't seem to be able to find any word to fit at the end of a sentence about Grimmauld Place, so instead he smiled at Harry and ushered him into the kitchen.

Harry pushed the door open, and as he did, the fire place ignited. Harry walked and sat down at the dinning table that he knew Mrs Wesley had enchanted to be able to seat up to 20 people, yet still could fit in the moderate sized kitchen. Harry looked round. The fire was casting an eerie glow, with it being the only source of light in the room.

Harry looked towards the back of the kitchen, to the cupboard, where he knew Kreacher slept and used to hide the Black family heir looms he couldn't bare to watch being thrown away. Harry turned, with a slight frown on his face, to find Dumbledore sitting himself in the chair opposite Harry's.

"Professor, where…"

But before Harry could finish, Dumbledore was answering him.

"Ah, yes, Kreacher. He is currently sleeping until the time his next master awakens him. I thought it best until you took over the house, that Kreacher remain… silenced in the nicest way possible. I can imagine Miss Granger would have a lot to say to me had I done what some of the Order members who were closer to Sirius were suggesting" He said with a small smile.

Harry smiled, what was one of his vary rare, true smiles. He was about to ask how he was supposed wake Kreacher up, when a clock started to chime. Harry knew that it was the clock on the second landing, and that if you walked past it too loudly, or disturbed the clock in any way, the door would open, and the pendulum would try to pull you in. Harry remembered his first Christmas here, when Fred had purposely tripped Ron up next to it. The pendulum had shot out, grabbed Ron round the neck and was trying to pull him in, before any of the others had realised what had happened.

"Ah, 8 O'clock. I do believe that a certain family will begin to arrive any seconds time. And no sooner had the words left the Headmaster's mouth, a blue light shot through the house and loud, excited voices could be heard from the dinning room.

"O.K, Fred, George, I want you to take the luggage upstairs, and don't look at me like that! Everyone can have the same bed rooms as last year" Mrs Weasley voice was a welcoming sound for Harry, as was the heavy footsteps of what he knew would be Ron walking down to the kitchen, probably looking for something to eat.

"Ron! I know your hungry, but you can wait while everyone gets settled in"

Ron's voice came from right outside the kitchen, and as he heard it, Harry stood up.

"I'm looking to see if Harry's in there"

And the door was pushed open.

Harry stepped forward, a little unsure of how he felt. He hadn't seen his friends since the end of term, and he hadn't spoken to them about what the prophecy was and what it would mean to Harry's future.

Harry had a glimpse of Ron as he pushed the door open, and Harry felt himself smile at the sight of his friend, but before he could say or do anything, two blurs one red one brown, rushed him. Harry felt himself stagger as Ginny and Hermione ran into him and hugged him so tightly, he could barley breathe.

Someone was laughing, and Harry felt himself laugh too. Hermione nearly always hugged him, but Ginny he didn't think had eve hugged him.

"It's nice to see you both too" He said, still laughing.

Then they both started to talk at once. Harry didn't pretend to be any type of lady's man. His one and only relationship had gone horribly wrong because he had no idea about girls. So now that he was being hugged and talked at by two of them, he didn't quite know what to with himself.

"Alright you pair! Let Harry breathe" Ron's voice was closer than it had been moments ago, yet it hadn't been Ron's laugh Harry had heard.

As the two girls untangled themselves from Harry, he looked round to find Dumbledore still sitting on the chair, his blue eyes twinkling with laughter.

"Harry, I do believe I shall leave you to catch up with your friends. We shall sort out that little problem soon" Dumbledore said, as he rose, quite gracefully for a man of his age, from the kitchen chair.

Harry nodded at Dumbledore's request and saw the confused frowns forming on his friends faces, but ignored them. They all said good-bye to their Headmaster, then took up chairs around the kitchen table.

"So, what have you lot been up to?" Harry asked

"Not much really. I spent a week at home with mum and dad, then they dropped me off at Ron's. I think they're a little upset I didn't spend longer at home but I want to be with…"

And her voice faltered. She looked sideways to Ginny, who gave Hermione an understanding smile. Harry looked to Ron, who just raised his eyebrows in a way that suggested to Harry he didn't have much more of a clue than Harry did.

"How about you two?" Harry directed the question between Ron and Ginny.

"Well, Dumbledore turned up about two days into the summer and asked us if we'd consider staying here with you. Then Hermione arrived, we packed and waited for an owl off Dumbledore to tell us when and what time to arrive here. And that's about it" Ginny summarised for him, with a small smile. Harry couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Percy still not around?" Harry asked

"Nah, thank god. Mum has tried speaking to him, but he just told her he was busy and he would be in contact soon. Stupid git" Ron told Harry.

"So anyway, what about you? What happened that night?" Hermione asked him.

Harry didn't think he was quite ready to talk about it yet. There was still so much he didn't understand, and things he didn't want to think about too much. He didn't know quite what to say to them, but Hermione, probably sensing what Harry was thinking, carried on to a different conversation. It was times like this that made him realise how much he loved his friends and how close they had become.

"We've been going into the village near Ron and Gunny's to get the muggle newspapers to keep up with their information as well as ours. It seems like the muggles aren't too sure what to believe" Hermione told Harry.

Harry opened his mouth to ask if there had been anymore leaks to the muggle press, but Mrs Wesley walked in.

"Harry, how are you dear?" She asked, and she walked over to his chair with her arms out.

Harry happily stood and returned the hug she gave him. Mrs Wesley had become a surrogate mother to Harry in the almost six years he had known the Wesley family. The family didn't have much money, but she always sent him birthday and Christmas present, and Harry had spent countless nights at the Wesley's being fed and having his washing done for him.

"I'm fine, thanks, Mrs Wesley. Thanks for coming to stay with me" He said, as he stepped back from her. She took Harry's face between her hands and smiled at him.

"Harry, your like one of my own. It isn't a bother at all. Now I do believe you haven't eaten yet. Why don't you lot go upstairs and I'll start some dinner"

Harry, blushing slightly, nodded and walked out of the room. Scrapping of chairs indicated the rest had followed. Harry, suddenly remembering that all of his stuff was still at the Dursley's, turned and made to walk back into the kitchen, but found himself face to face with Ginny.

The blush that was now receding, flamed again as she smiled and side stepped him, brushing her fingers down his arm as she walked past. Harry then found himself face to face with Hermione, who had a knowing smile on her face, and she too walked round Harry to catch up with Ginny.

Harry turned, as Ron came to stand by his side, to watch the pair walk up the stairs, arm in arm, giggling.

"You know what, Mate?" Ron said to Harry.

"What"

"I don't think we'll ever understand girls" Ron said simply.

"Anyway, whats up? Don't fancy going upstairs?" Ron asking sympathetically.

"No, no its not that, I don't have my stuff here, I need someone to collect it from the Dursley's" Harry told Ron, as they resumed their walk up the stairs.

"Its already here, mate. My dad and Lupin went and collected it earlier today. Lupin wasn't too impressed with the Dursley's. My dad had to nearly drag him outta the house, apparently!" Ron said, laughing slightly.

The thought of Lupin loosing this patience and having to be pushed out of Vernon and Petunia Dursley's perfect house was enough to bring a smile to anyone's face.


End file.
